The Sharpest Lives
by lolareedus
Summary: DARYL DIXON/OC... After being tossed around from foster home to foster home most of her life, Ace has never had much, especially after being forced to separate from her baby sister. The zombie apocalypse ended up getting in the way of all her plans, but what happens when she runs into a certain redneck and his group?
1. Chapter 1

To adapt is to change your behavior so that it is easier to live in a particular place or situation.

That's what Ace has done all her life, and now that it's the zombie apocalypse, it's a skill that she's glad to have picked up. To survive you must adapt. It's her number one rule of life. You have to accept what is thrown your way, and if you can't change it, change yourself. Make room for it.

Make room for the pain, sadness, anger, and pure fear that runs deep in your bones, especially now that you may be a lone survivor, like she is. A lone survivor of the fucking end of the world.

Ace doesn't plan on being alone for long, though. She plans on finding her little sister, Frankie, who she last saw at the Children's Foster Care Center a few weeks ago. She went and visited her as much as she could, even everyday if she was able to, and she was supposed to be able to finally bring her home this month. Apparently Ace was not fit to be her guardian when Frankie was taken away from her because she didn't have a steady job or home and was in buckets of debt.

It was a bunch of bullshit. She was taking care of her just fine, doing everything she could for her baby sister since she was basically left at Ace's doorstep a week after she was born. Ace never wanted Frankie to ever see the inside of a foster home because basically her whole life until she was 18, she was sent from one to another, being torn from everything she loves each time. But, Ace was told that once she got herself in a good position, Frankie would be released out of the foster home and back to her. And, the best part of this story is that Ace was supposed to get her back the weekend of the week the world "ended".

But, Ace is going to get her back, no matter what it takes. She'll do anything and everything to get her back because when she sets her mind to something, she makes sure it happens. So now here she is, in the forbidden city of Atlanta where the foster care center used to be, and that was also supposed to be a refugee center... The whole city was now overrun and now crawling with biters.

Lame-brains, zombies, undead, walking dead, biters... Which term was the right one for the rotting corpses surrounding Ace, she doesn't know, but biters is her personal favorite. Ever since she heard her neighbor calling them that, it stuck with her, but not before her neighbor got turned into dinner, of course.

God, this whole situation is just fucked up. Who would have thought that there would be an actual zombie apocalypse? Certainly not Ace. But, now here she is; with only a few weapons, a backpack full of canned food, and some granola bars, surrounded by smelly bastards.

She says that the foster care center "used" to be here because, well it's pretty much demolished. The first few days when the outbreak started, they bombed Atlanta and you could say that that building 'caught' one of the bombs. She still checked the place out though, at least what was still left of it, and noticed that multiple buses were missing and large tire tracks led right away from the building. She also didn't spot any zombie children nearby, so she could only hope that her assumptions were right and they got all the kids the hell out of dodge in time.

Ace should have done the same when she realized Frankie wasn't here, but she desperately needed supplies. She was on her last sip of water and can't survive off the granola bars and canned beans for long. Some medicine would also be great to find, especially some type of pain killers, knowing she'd need them, too.

Ace continued her silent and slow steps, creeping up behind a large building to find it's back door. The smell of decaying flesh and death swarmed the city and was sucking the air right out of her each time she would breathe in. It was not a scent you could ever get used to, and each time she did smell it, her stomach did flips.

She finally spotted the tall metal door that led inside the building, and quickly made her way over. She grasped onto the door nob and turned it as quietly as possible, then pushed the door open slowly, trying to make it squeak as little as possible.

She peeked her head in and spotted two biters inside that were paying no attention to her. They were just staring off into the distance, almost like they were day dreaming... Probably about eating your insides out.

She was planing on sneaking by them like she always does, but a small warm gust of wind blew, making her hair whip a little outwards and then the biters to slowly turn their heads over. Can these bastards fucking smell me?

Low and disturbing growls came out of them, sending shivers down her spine, and then they started to make their way over. Terrific.

She stepped inside the building, letting the door shut behind her and tightened her grip on the knife. A Strider model MK1, to be specific. It had to have at least close to a 7 inch blade, and was designed for military use. This blade was amazing and she got lucky enough to pick it off a dead guy... It was worth it, though, this thing cuts threw biters like butter.

As the the two stumbled over, she noticed how they still had work uniforms on with their name tags attached. The first ones name was Michael while the other's she couldn't quite read because he was farther away. Michael here didn't even get to go home to his family, assuming he had one... He didn't get to say good bye to his loved ones or to even register what was truly happening before he got part of his arm bit off.

These were people with lives and families. People that had futures and had to deal with normal problems like debt or bad hair days. These were people that just were unfortunate enough to get caught in this mess.

But, these were also people that wanted to rip her guts out for dinner, and Ace realized that as they started to get closer and growl louder.

She snapped herself out of her thoughts and raised up her arm with the knife in it, sending it straight down again, cutting straight across the biters head. Like butter, she smirked to herself. Who would have thought she would be smirking at the fact of how smooth her knife went through a dead things head? Who would have thought she had the inner strength to become basically a murderer?

Ace learned that it had to be the brain to actually kill these things probably a week ago when she had a close call with one of them. She stabbed it in the heart, lungs, stomach, gut, and even cut it's hand off, but the damn thing just kept on coming at her. Until she sent the knife through its forehead, of course.

And she did exactly that to the next biter's head coming up to her, noticing his name was Stewart as she did. It was never easy killing these things, earning that sickening noise as you did. She avoided killing them as much as she could, sneaking around quietly everywhere she went. But the first few times she did kill one, she vomited until she dry heaved after. Not only was it disgusting, but she felt as if she just killed a person in cold blood... Not something she ever planned on doing.

But, this whole apocalypse wasn't planned, so Ace did what she does best; adapt. She adapted to this "new" world, forcing herself to somehow become more comfortable with stabbing people in the head. Forcing herself to push, fight, and scavenge. Forcing herself to survive.

She tried not to gag as she stepped over the two biters she just killed, and looked around for more, but luckily it was all quiet. Too quiet, almost...

She kept her knife tight in her grip as she looked around the floor she was on, which seemed to be almost like a souvenir shop with racks of clothes, hats, jewelry, and so on. Ace also noticed that the glass doors in the front had been smashed open by something or someone, causing the glass to crunch under her feet. She will have to try and search this quick, knowing that biters could wander in at any moment.

There was an upstairs, which she hopes would have better supplies than down here, because she cant think of anything she'd need a necklace for right now... She searched around, grabbing only a few things that she might need before she crept on, her eyes peeled and moving all around this floor of the building.

Ace made her way to the stairs and peeked up before trying to go up as quietly as possible with out making the steps creak. The second floor was completely different than the first, looking like a regular office place. It was deserted and was starting to creep her out a little, especially when she imagined this once being filled with busy average adults, buzzing around to get their work done.

It was almost like this was a dream, or a movie that she'd watch on TV. She wished so desperately this was just that, but every time she pinched herself or splashed water on her face, she was still alone, running away from dead things.

At least this floor might have some food or water, maybe even some more weapons if she's lucky. All she has currently is her wonderful knife, a hand gun she had recently found, a pocket knife, and another one of her personal favorites; brass knuckles. She doesn't use her gun much, in fact it's at the bottom of her bag, because if she even thinks about letting a shot off, she's got a whole city of biters on her ass. She's also not sure who in the world still has brass knuckles anymore, but she's not complaining... You can never have enough weapons now.

Ace doesn't really have a primary weapon, she never really thought she would need to have one, but she does know how to shoot and all that good stuff. She did archery one year as a kid and one of her foster dad's, the stereo-typical big meaty white guy with tattoos up his neck and a weird mustache, lived in a shady neighborhood. He liked to have his property protected, and since he left Ace home alone most of the time while he went out with his wife, she was that protection. He taught her how to shoot a gun as well as defending herself and attacking others. Sure, she was scared as hell of him at the time, but now she was thankful because if it weren't for him, she would probably be dead right now.

Ace wanted to thank him, even though it had been multiple years, but she technically owed him her life. She wonders if he his alive? If anyone of her previous foster parents were alive? If anyone was alive?

She snapped herself out of these depressing thoughts, not needing to think about that right now, and started to search through drawers and desks in this office. She came across multiple bottles of water, some bags of chips, protein drinks, some Tylenol, cough medicine, granola bars, peanuts, and even a few novels. She smiled to herself widely, but then quickly got rid of the peanuts, knowing she was pretty allergic to those.

Ace felt like a small weight had been lifted off her shoulders at finally having some decent supplies, but a whole different weight came back on when she heard shuffles and multiple groans coming from the floor above her. She was just going to sneak back out of here and try her best to avoid them like she always does because it's a pretty good technique to survive, but she heard something else that caught her attention from outside the window, probably on the roof... Something human...

It was almost as if it was grunts of pain or sharp yells...

Don't go up there. Even if it is human, they're probably dying. Just leave. She thought to herself. She should just leave, but the noises were confusing her. If someone was getting eaten they would be screaming much much louder, but nothing like that was coming out. She was mentally yelling at herself to turn around, but the good person in her started to jog over to the stairs, running up them with a tight grip on her knife.

This next floor was a little more office and eating space, but the back side of it was the kitchen. She kept her ears and eyes pealed and focused as she followed the noises. There were a few biters that had wandered over to her, but she quickly pressed her back against the wall and snuck past them like some weird James Bond type shit.

When she turned the corner that was nearing the sounds she quickly cursed herself for this stupid plan. "Shit," she hissed and stepped back, pressing her back against the wall again, letting out her heavy breaths. There was a whole group of hungry vicious lame-brains banging and growling at a metal door while being squished in the narrow staircase leading to the roof. Turning back now would probably be the smartest decision, but if it wasn't noticed, she's not too smart.

They were trying to get through a door that obviously must have had something living on the other side, trapped on the roof. "Fuck," She groaned and pulled her backpack off her shoulders, was she really doing this? Yes. She wasn't going to let the probably first living thing she's seen since this started, be killed. It was just a person after all.

Ace unzipped her backpack and started rifling through it until she gripped onto one of the books she had stuffed in here. She quickly put her pack back on her back and stood up straight again, letting out a huff before she chucked the book across from her, knocking over multiple things on the shelf it hit in the process. She turned away and ran in the opposite direction, ducking under one of the desks as the biters started taking off in the direction of the noise.

When all of them got away from the door she noticed a glass vase on top of the desk she was under and quickly snatched it, dumping out the dead flowers inside. She ran as quietly as she could back to the stairs she used to get up here and chucked the bottle down, causing it to bounce and shatter all over. As soon as it did that, she turned and sprinted back to the metal stair case leading up to the roof with the living thing behind the door.

Before running up to the roof, Ace took a quick glance back and saw the biters all stumbling down the stairs, leaving it almost empty up here. She wiped the sweat of her forehead and took off up to the door, only to realize it was chained and locked with a padlock. She mumbled a bunch of made up words in anger and grabbed onto the padlock, inspecting it. Why was she doing so much for someone that she had never even met before and could possibly be dead?

She yanked two of my bobby pins out of her hair and got down on one knee, stealing quick glances behind her to make sure it was safe as she picked the lock. It was a talent Ace just picked up over the years of being a delinquent and had grown significantly good at it. She was about to start getting dizzy from taking so many quick glances behind me for biters when she finally heard the 'click' that made her let out a relieved sigh and pull off the lock.

She yanked off the chain that was holding it closed, tossing it to the side before shoving the door open and stepping out, her eyes squinting at the transition into the bright sunlight. She shut the door behind her and stepped over to where she saw a figure sitting on the ground, mumbling something incoherently, until he heard Ace and turned to face her. Her jaw dropped at the sight of his pale face and the stump that was now his right arm, no longer having a hand.

"Hey sugar tits, wana give me a hand?" He slurred out, chuckling at him self.

**Hey guys! So this is my third story on here and is another Daryl Dixon/OC story! The title is from a My Chemical Romance song, which I do not own anything of. I also own nothing related to the walking dead, but do own my own characters!:)**

**This chapter is just kind of an intro on where my character is at so far. Her name is Ace Silvers and you will soon get to know more about her!:)**

**I'm not sure if I want to continue in 1st person pov or try 3rd, so I thought I'd test it out. I might end up switching like I did before, but who knows!**

**I really hope you guys enjoy this story! I love you all:)**


	2. Chapter 2

Ace stared at the slightly gray haired man, who looked a good deal older and bigger than her muscle wise, and currently had no right hand connected to his body. He looked very pale, dirty, and delusional from the pain and blood loss, but that still didn't stop him from making his sexual remarks at her.

"What's a pretty lil' thing like ya doin up here?" He slurred out, but Ace stayed silent. She wasn't the type to say all the things she was thinking aloud, or even just talk much in the first place. She was also weary of this man, not sure if she could trust him, but she knew she had to help him.

She jumped off the little platform she was on, not using the cement stairs up here, and made her way over to this man, still gripping her knife. And as she inspected him and her surroundings, it gave Merle a good time to fully take her appearance in. She had her hair thrown back in a small pony tail, short bangs not included and brushed to the side in front of the red bandana tied to around head. She had lots of dirt also covering her and her clothes. She had on an oversized gray checkered shirt that was tucked into her light blue jeans and also looked like she had been wearing it for a while.

But, that wasn't what Merle was seeing. He was seeing the multiple buttons of her shirt undone at the top, long slim legs, pretty face, and the curves of her breasts and ass. No matter how injured he was, he still was a rude sexist, treating woman as his property. Plus, he still was a little twisted from his drugs that the sheriff from earlier had thrown off the building. He was still pissed about that. "Well, ya really are a pretty thing aren't ya?" He smirked, feeling his energy drain, about to open his mouth to say more, but was completely shut up when she turned to look at him, meeting his eyes. He was speechless when her hard and intense eyes bored into his. He had to squint to make sure he wasn't imagining the odd colors. One being the palest blue he's ever seen, and the other a brighter green.

She walked over to him and crouched down so she was his level, inspecting his blue eyes with her hard ones. "You're bleedin out."

Merle snorted, "oh really? Thanks for pointin it out, Darlin."

Ace's jaw clenched from irritation of being interrupted, but let ignored it. "There's a stove inside, gotta cauterize the stump to get the bleeding to stop. And you're gona need help, so if you keep your mouth shut, I'll give it to ya."

Merle couldn't think of anything to say, he rarely had a woman speak to him like that before, so he just nodded, desperately needing her help. Ace shifted over closer to his side, throwing his good arm around her shoulder and helping him stand, which ended up in both of them letting out grunts of struggle. He wasn't the lightest and was still in a lot of pain and delusion. When they did get up, Ace still held onto him to help him walk because he was walking like he was drunk. "Don't need ya damn help walkin, get lost," he grumbled.

"Remember when I told you to shut the hell up? I meant it. So shut up," she snapped back and continued to lead him. He should be thanking her for helping him, not being an ass about it.

When they got to the metal door leading down the staircase, Ace moved him so he leaned against the doorway while she peaked down. "Stay here," she pointed to the ground firmly then ran quietly down the stairs, checking to make sure the coast was clear. She looked around quickly, checking most of the floor they were on, only finding two biters wandering around. She hated killing them, normally just hid from them, but she knew she had to now, so she stuck her knife through the back of their heads, gagged a little, then ran back up to find Merle getting paler by the second.

Ace signaled for him to get up off the wall and once again put his arm around her shoulder and helped him down the stairs. She still kept her eyes peeled for biters as she led him to the small kitchen area, but saw no more other than the two she just killed. Merle saw them too, and let his eyes linger on them for a little, impressed. His stereotypical view of women was weak and needy.

When they got into the kitchen, Ace went straight to where she spotted the stove and let him lean against it while she searched around for a set of matches, luckily finding them in a cupboard not too far away. She pulled one out and turned on the gas from the stove, striking the match to set the gas up in flames. Ace would have preferred an iron to do this, but when she looked around earlier, there wasn't one in sight, so she took one of the dark metaled, small saucer pans and put it over the flame, letting it heat up. "Belt," she pointed to Merle's belt and he so badly wanted to make a sexual comment, but knew it would end up in him getting smacked.

It was a little difficult for him to undo it with one hand, but there was no way Ace was going to help him with that. She did though help him when he got it off to wrap it tight above his stump. She was getting ready to pick up the now very hot pan, but thought of something that might help. She grabbed onto the wooden spoon on the counter next to the stove and then gave it to Merle. He understood and put it in his mouth getting ready to bite down.

Ace picked up the hot pan, positioning it in front of his bloody stump. She cringed at the sight slightly. "Ready on the count of three," she informed him. "One..Tw-" she pressed it hard to his stump with out warning, cutting herself off from her counting. Merle's jaw clenched down hard and his whole body tensed, letting out a loud groan of agony while Ace worked the burning pan all over his stump, making sure she burned it all.

The smell and sound of his skin burning was making her stomach churn, but she just bit down on the inside of her cheek and started taking deep breaths to focus. Merle was trying to swear and yell at her, but his words just got muffled by the wooden spoon that he was sure he was about to break in half with his teeth. "Done."

Merle sighed out greatly when the hot pressure was released from him, and spit the spoon out, looking at Ace as she started to dig through her bag. "Here, take these. They'll help with the pain," she handed him some of the pain pills she grabbed earlier and he gratefully took them and swallowed them dry. She went back to put them in and closed her back, and while she did Merle was taking a good look at her. He would be lying if he didn't say he was totally impressed and thankful for this interesting girl, but didn't say a thing about it. To him he had a reputation to uphold.

"It's gona get dark soon and there is no way in hell you're goin out there right now," Ace stated, pointing out the window to the streets with biters roaming in them. "We'll stay on the roof tonight, keep it chained up."

She threw her back pack over her shoulders again then looked at the man in front of her. "You good?"

Merle nodded, not knowing what to say and then yet again let her help him to their next stop, going up the stairs to get there. When back on the roof, Ace led him to a spot that was a little bit away from his amputated hand. She set him down, letting him fall with a little 'thump' on his ass, making him roll his eyes as she ran back over to the metal door they came in from. She grabbed onto the chain she had got off earlier and closed the door, but left enough space for her to get her arms through. It was a little difficult, but she managed to wrap the chain around the front handles of the door tightly and put the lock around it while she was still behind the opposite side of the door. She did have to yank her hands from the now small crack in the door she created, though.

"How we gona get down if ya locked us up here, smart ass?" Merle asked Ace when she got back over to him.

"Door over there. Has stairs that lead down, smart ass," she retaliated, pointing to a different door near them that had the words 'Caution, watch for step' on them. Merle snorted and Ace sat down on the ground across from him, leaning against the large cement barrier surrounding the edge of the roof and being careful of her aching back.

"What's yer name?" He asked her, looking at her while she didn't look up at him, just down at her boots, picking at them.

"Ace."

"Ain't that a man's name?"

"So?" She looked up at him, squinting her eyes at him.

Merle did the same, but gave in and nodded lightly. "Merle."

That sat in silence for a little while after that, Merle starting to get fidgety and bored while she sat perfectly still, eyes back down on the ground below her. Merle could not figure her out, but he could tell she was a quiet one that had a mind which goes a mile a minute. He watched as she dug into the bag of hers again, pulling out a can of food and sliding it over to him before grabbing another one for herself. "Make it last," was all she said before opening hers up and then they went back to silence.

"Ya got a job? Before all this?" Merle asked while he chewed, not being able to take the boring and uncomfortable silence anymore.

Ace looked up at him, just looking at him in silence for a moment before she responded. "Yeah, a few."

"Well, ya gona tell me what they are, girl? Shit, just tryin to make conversation, stop bein so damn quiet," Merle huffed and after a second heard Ace as she started to laugh, covering her mouth with her hand so it would stay quiet. Merle didn't know what was funny, and Ace really didn't either, but her laughter was a little contagious and made Merle bite his cheek to hold a smirk back.

"Sorry," she got her small laughter under control. "Used to be a receptionist at a damn groomer's. Can't say I'm sad to see the place blown to pieces."

"Those dog tags?" He asked, signaling to the chain around her neck, changing the subject after a second.

"Ex-marine."

"Ahh, Army girl."

"Marines, not Army. Big difference," Marines were a branch of the Navy, a world different than the Army.

Merle snorted, "whatever," he eyed her for a second, still trying to figure her out. "Ya get kicked out?"

"Of the Navy? Sort of.."

"T'hell ya mean sort of?"

Ace sighed, not really liking all the attention, "why did you cut your hand off?" She changed the topic.

"Nuh-uh, answer my question, girl."

"Answer mine first and I will," she squinted her eyes at him, watching as he huffed in defeat.

"Some pricks from my group, handcuffed me up here, left me to rot."

That didn't really make sense to Ace. Why would someone do that? Leave another person to starve, possibly be eaten by biters? And why would they chain one of the doors shut? "You don't think they'll come back?"

"T'hell don't ya understand about left me to rot?" He snapped, but then calmed his voice. "Well, my baby brother might, but I ain't gona stick around to find out."

"Why not?"

"'Cause M'gona go find myself a car and take my ass right back to their camp, surprise 'em."

Ace just nodded, it really wasn't her business and if people were bad enough to leave him up here to rot, then they probably deserve it. "Gona answer my question now?"

Ace sighed, she never really talked much, especially about this or the other shitty things in her life. She really had only joined the Marine Corps in the first place when she was 18 for an excuse to get the hell out of dodge, but it stuck with her for a while, until the accidents. "I was stationed down in some shit part of Germany. My unit was out during this battle against some serious hard asses and I had to make a decision."

"Wha' kind of decision?"

Ace took a deep breath in, "The enemy was not to far away and right in front of me, I had a clean shot," she used her finger and pointed as if she was pointing at the enemy in front of her. "But, as a Marine, you're taught to fight for the people next to you, your fellow Marine's... I made the decision to focus on killing the enemy over protecting my others.. I got some people killed because of it."

"They kicked ya out because of tha'?"

She bit her lip, "they were thinkin about it.. The people I got killed, they were important," Ace sighed, "but, lucky for them, they didn't have to make a final decision on me."

"Ya quit?"

She nodded, "had to."

Ace didn't know why she was still talking, or even telling this stranger all this. But, she thought why the hell not? She wasn't going to ever see him again after tonight and according to others, talking about it was supposed to help. She never did talk about it, but she might as well give it a shot, even if it is the end of the world and it doesn't make a difference now...

Merle didn't really know what she meant when she said she had to, but it slipped his mind when Ace started to untuck her shirt. A sly smirk came over his face, thinking she was gona undress, especially when she turned so her back was to him, but his face fell when she only lifted up the back of her shirt to show a gross looking scar on her lower back. "What the hell?! That shit's nasty," Merle scowled and she rolled her eyes, turning around and letting go of her shirt.

"Really?" She gave him a look then pointed to his stump.

Merle put his hands up in the air. "Touche.. What's it from?"

Ace sighed and rubbed her fingers over her eyes before speaking. "Cancer."

Merle was a little taken aback. "Shit, girl."

She didn't respond and just put her half eaten can of beans to the side before starting to adjust her bag to the most comfortable position for her to put her head on. "Enough with the questions. I'm getting some sleep," she was about to lay down before she froze and turned to face him, pointing a finger in his face. "If you even think about touchin me in any way, I will cut your other hand off."

Merle rubbed his chin, barely letting out a chuckle and giving her a slight nod. He hadn't known this girl for long, but she had definitely earned his respect for her.

As soon as Ace's head laid on the bag, she let her eyes close, her mind still buzzing. Bringing up her cancer only made her more stressed out, and that she really didn't need to be. The end of the world was already stressful enough. But, her cancer really did have her worried.

It was one of the reasons they wouldn't let her baby sister live with her. At the time she had just gotten diagnosed with it and there was a 50% chance of her dying. But, she survived it after going through a long process of chemo and surgery, leaving her with that nasty scar. The back pains were supposed to go away for good, along with the cancer, but the past month they have been acting up again. She new that it could mean nothing... or they either didn't get rid of all the cancer in the first place, or it came back, but neither of those were good news.

She sighed and turned onto her side, really hoping that tonight she could at least get some much needed sleep.

Ace had been up for hours. She had always been an early riser.

She decided to let Merle sleep a little while longer because he was already going to be weak from blood loss and his injury, so he needed as much rest as he could get.

While he was asleep, Ace organized her back pack, twice. One time so she could make sure everything was easy and accessible if she needed it and the second time because of OCD. When she willed herself to stop organizing, she finished the rest of her can of beans, changed her jeans into shorter cut off ones since it was already hot today, and then sat just relishing in her own thoughts for a while.

She was used to always having time by her lonesome, so she became almost a friend with herself, knowing how to keep herself entertained for hours. That and she always had a thousand things going on in her mind at a time.

It was a good trait to have picked up as a child, especially when she was stationed out as a Marine and they had to wait for hours in the quiet for their next order.

She noticed the sun was rising up high enough that it had to be almost 10, so she decided that was enough sleep for Merle. She got up from the ground, brushed off, and went over to Merle. She lightly kicked his foot a few times, standing over him with crossed arms until he groggily opened his eyes. "Get up."

"Damn girl, I can't get another hour of sleep? It's still early," Merle groaned.

"No, I'm leaving and didn't think it would be very kind if I left you layin here," she walked over to her back, putting it on and adjusting the straps so they were tight.

"Where ya off to?" He asked, sitting up, picking at his stump.

She didn't answer and just bent down, picking up her knife and brass knuckles that she pulled out of her bag, sliding them on. Merle sighed and wanted someone to just shoot him in the face for what he was about to offer. "Ya should come with me, back to my camp, we got it set up pretty good away from the city," he would have never believed in a million years that those words came out of his mouth. Merle Dixon was being nice to a woman? A woman that he would normally just rob of her stuff, probably try to get the stupid bitch to sleep with him, and leave her to rot.. It must really be the end of the world..

Ace thought about it, thought about Frankie. She didn't know if her baby sister would still be in the city or maybe if she was on the bus that left and is out somewhere else. But, even if she did go with him, for a ride and a place to sleep before she went looking for Frankie again, the people didn't sound so good if they chained him up to the roof to starve. She stood up straight and knawed on the inside of her cheek, "I don't know..."

"Well ya ain't gona find me offerin again, so make up ya damn mind," Merle stood up, still cautious of his stump.

"Fine."

Merle nodded and grabbed his can of beans, dumping the rest in his mouth before throwing the can across the roof. Ace rolled her eyes and then thought of something. She spotted a box of tools over by the amputated hand, and walked over. She grabbed a few, putting them in her bag just in case she'd need them, but then grabbed one that looked best to be used as a weapon.

"Hey, don't pick at that, you're making it bleed!" Ace scolded Merle who was messing with the already scabbing stump as she walked over. He scoffed and she handed him the wrench, "you need a weapon."

Ace looked down at his stump one more time, seeing that he had ripped a decent size scab off so now blood was dripping from it. "You drip blood on me, I kill you," she said and then turned, heading to the door that wasn't chained off, Merle following behind.

Ace peaked down the stairs, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, so she and Merle ran down, feet making the steps clink. They ended up back on the floor they were on yesterday and no biters were near so they ran down the stairs leading to the first floor, sneaking past a few clueless biters, and then getting out onto the street.

They both walked on in silence, with their eyes pealed for anything to jump out at them, but since they were using the alley ways to get around, nothing too bad was there.

"Why?" Merle asked randomly, breaking the silence they were walking in. "Why'd ya save me?"

Ace didn't look over to him, just kept scanning her eyes in front of her. She didn't really have a good answer to that besides it wasn't in her to just leave him to rot like his group did. "Ya could of just left me, went on with ya day."

"Like your group did?" She now looked up at him and that got Merle to go quiet. "Plus, your sexist comments and irreplaceable personality had me hooked," she mumbled to herself, sarcasm dripping through her voice.

"Hey, I heard that!"

Ace just smirked to herself as they walked on. All was quiet again, until they spotted a few empty cars across one of the roads. "Why don't ya keep watch while I try and get these babies started," Merle said once they both ran over to the cars. Ace was going to retaliate and tell him to keep watch, just because she was a girl didn't mean she couldn't hot wire a car, but he had already climbed inside one, digging away under the wheel before she could say anything.

The first one started up for them, but she heard Merle curse when the fuel meter read empty, so he moved onto the next one a little bit down, starting the same process, only to be let down again. He was cursing under his breath as he moved onto the third car, Ace following, but stopped in her tracks when she heard the familiar sound of bloody growls. Her heart beat accelerated in an instant and she slowly turned around, praying that it wasn't what she thought it was. "Fuck... MERLE!" She yelled when she saw the biggest groups of biters shes ever seen together make their way towards them.

She spun around and started to run towards Merle who was climbed inside a car. "MERLE!" She yelled again, causing him to sit up and notice the biters behind her. "Time to go!" She shouted and he jumped out of the car, joining her side and taking off in sprints. They weren't in the alleyways anymore and on the main streets, so biters were appearing out of nowhere. "We need somewhere to hide out," Ace called over to him, her breathing heavy. She was taught to keep calm and have a level head during dangerous situations, but she had never really mastered that.

Merle had the same words she said in his head, trying to figure out what to do as well, but a few of the dead bastards were coming too close for comfort, distracting him. Ace wanted to go over and help him, since all he had was a wrench and one hand, but soon a few biters were coming at her as well. She gripped her knife tight and quickly started heading over to take out the ones closer to her, but more kept coming when she would look back to see how Merle was doing.

More kept coming and her and Merle were getting spread further and further apart, especially when many caught up to them, taking over the space between them. She tried yelling to him over all the biters, but their groans were too loud and sickening. She couldn't even make out the sight of him anymore, but she was able to hear one more thing from him. "RUN."

She hesitated. Ever since the accident years ago when she got people killed, she always wanted to make sure the people fighting beside her were safe. She didn't even know Merle, but she wanted to save him.. again. But, there was no way. So she ran.

She turned and ran as fast as she could, dodging the biters that were near by, slicing at them if she needed to. Maybe she could wait and circle back to look for Merle? Maybe he ran too?

Or maybe there was no way.

She was alone again.

**[A/N]: sooo I'm really enjoying writing this story and my character:)**

**I hope you guuys are enjoying this as well! Let me know what you think!**

**So does this mean Ace will be running into a certain someone soon?(; How do you think it will play out?**

**I love you all x**


	3. Chapter 3

Ace was pressed up the back of a building, her breathing hard and loud as she huffed and puffed. She had managed to get a good distance away from the biters, giving her a chance to hide out and listen to their moans pass.

She was trying to listen for any signs of someone living, preferably Merle, but nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard unexpected gun shots. ...Merle didn't have a gun?

She silently cursed under her breath as the gun fire caught the biters attention and started to send them in the direction Merle was at. Her plan was to circle back when they all passed, but that was as good as dead now.

She tightened the straps of her backpack so it wouldn't bounce around and then took off in a run.

More gun shots and sick growls echoed around her ears, even a few yells. She had no idea what was going on and was debating just not going over there, but yet again she was putting her ass on the line for Merle.

When Ace neared the spot she had been at with Merle, a loud screeching erupted and she looked up in time to see a large white van high tailing down the street away from her and a shit ton of biters following after. She also saw the wrench she gave Merle lying on the ground, which meant he was most likely in that van, gone.

She really was alone again.

Ace ran her hand through her hair and let out an agitated sigh, kicking the wrench on the ground, but the noticing all the biters coming again, hearing the gun shots. Yet again she broke out in a run, heading to the same back of the building she was just at, which seemed like the only acceptable place to go. And when she got there, she leaned against the wall, putting her hands on her knees and breathing hard, trying to catch her breath.

She was just getting used to being with another person, just until she left to look for Frankie again, but now he was gone.

She doesn't think Frankie is still in the city, and if she is... Well, she's most likely dead. Ace wanted to know either way, for closure, but it was going to do no good to stick around here.

So she has to get out of the city.

Ace stood up straight, taking one more breath and then heading in the opposite direction behind the building. She spotted what looked like a train track yesterday morning that would lead her to out of the city, so she could just have to get over to that again. Shouldn't be too hard right?

Wrong.

She ended up having to walk at least a few miles, barely even having any food in her system, only a bag of chips, and also constantly getting lost on the way. When it did come in sight, she was more than relieved, but then remembered she has no idea where she's going. It's also going to be sunset soon so she will be in the middle of nowhere in the dark.. great.

Ace paused her walk and pulled her bag of her shoulders, setting it on the ground and crouching down next to it. She dug in it deep and pulled out her handgun, checking to see how many bullets were left in the magazine and then slamming it back in quickly. She had more than half a clip left inside, but she wanted it on her for emergencies now as she was heading a little further away from the city.

Before she stood back up she pulled out one of her water bottles and taking a quick drink. Taking her time standing up, stretching her achy back on the way to try and ease the tightness before throwing her backpack onto her shoulders again. As she started to walk again, she took her gun and slid it in the back waste band of her pants, sighing.

Ace had put her knife back in it's sheath earlier, letting her ears and eyes keep watch for her, but she wasn't comfortable with out having it in her hands while the sun was dropping.

The sun set was a very pretty one tonight, but everything about nature seemed off lately. Maybe that's why her back was acting up again? Because something was up with nature? Or maybe that's just an excuse so she doesn't have to admit to her self that she could possibly be getting her cancer back full on, most likely not going to survive it this time.. Who would give her the risky surgery she needed? Or the medicine's since chemo is out of the question? She didn't see the right drugs that would help keep the rapid growing cancer under control at all during her time in the city, so what was going to happen?

Her thoughts only got more and more depressing thinking about how she was going to die alone and sick even if she did survive the biters. She was questioning the point, but only let that thought stay for a few seconds, before completely banishing it away. She would adapt to this. She would adapt to this "sickness", doing everything she can in her own favor to stay alive. She wouldn't be afraid.

Ace knew that saying she won't be afraid was hard for someone to believe, but she wont be. She has a plan for keeping her fear at bay. It's part of her adapting. Every morning, or every time shes put in a crazy situation, she stops. Only for a moment. She lets herself feel it; all the fear, sadness, pain, anger, ect. She accepts it, only for a few seconds, and then "adapts" to it. It's almost like she sucks everything into a black hole, and then after a few seconds the hole closes. She focuses on surviving.. On getting things done.

And Ace let those few seconds start when she heard footsteps behind her. She knew they were too quiet to be biters, so she breathed in and out, letting the fear take it's course, before shutting it out and focusing. The sound of a gun cocking ignited her and in one swift movement, she pulled her gun out, already cocked, and spun towards the noise, stance as steady as a statue.

"Don't shoot! No one needs to get hurt here!" A calm and sturdy voice said, coming closer. She didn't move her stance or say a word, just let her eyes look over the few people coming to her. It was now a dark sky, but she could still make out that the one that spoke was wearing a sheriffs uniform, the hat included, did he not get the memo that there is no more law enforcement?.. There was also a meaty African American man, who only had an axe steady in his hand. To his left there was a scrawny Asian boy with a base ball cap, seeming nervous as he kept looking to the man who spoke while barely gripping onto his shot gun. Ace let her eyes can over to the last man holding a crossbow, cold shivers being sent immediately down her spine when she met his baby blue eyes, set hard and intense on her, making them both hesitate from their stances for a moment.

Ace quickly snapped her glance away, tightening her grip on her gun, looking at the man who first spoke, but only seeing the bag of guns on his back. "We aren't going to hurt you," the sheriff said, lowering his gun and signaling for the others to do the same. The Asian boy did right away, along with the African American man, but the guy with the crossbow kept it up when Ace didn't lower hers. "My name's Rick Grimes," the sheriff took a step and held out his hand, he seemed to not be well adjusted to this harsh world.

Ace didn't shake his hand, but she did lower her gun slightly, still keeping it tight in her grip and ready to be snapped back up in an instant. She wasn't trying to be rude by not shaking his hand, but was still to busy trying to figure these people out, and Rick noticed that so he let his hand fall slightly. "This is Glenn, T-Dog, and Daryl."

Her eyes wandered over the people again, stopping for a moment and the blue eyed man named Daryl who stood a little further behind the other people, not seeming to be friends with them. He was studying her as well, his crossbow still up. Ace noticed his sleeveless shirt, muscular arms, and dirty blonde hair. He looked rough around the edges, very intriguing. She also noticed that he- his blue eyes especially- looked oddly familiar, but she shook it off. "Are you alone?" Rick asked.

Ace was full of hesitation, her eyes squinting while she figured out what to do, but this man's voice seemed very truthful and trustworthy. She nodded slightly, just enough for the men to catch. "We have a camp not too far away.. you look like you could use some rest."

This fit into Ace's plan greatly. A place to catch up on some sleep and even possibly get some sustainable food before continuing on her journey for Frankie. "What's your name?" Rick asked.

"Ace."

"Ain't that a man's name?" Daryl added roughly and that's when it hit Ace. The familiarity. His blue eyes, rough-edged look, and voice were all to similar to her old "friend" Merle. He must have been the brother Merle talked about. But, then that meant this was the group that left him to rot on the roof...

The coincidence was odd..

Daryl saw something, almost realization, that crossed across her face when he talked, confusing him, but before Ace could say anything, blood-curdling screams echoed out. The four men all looked at each other and then took off in a panicked sprint.

Ace debated just running away from them, not sure if she should go to the camp of these people who did what they did to Merle. But, then again they didn't seem like bad people and the screams had to be from their camp. "Shit," Ace hissed at herself and then started running after the men towards their camp. She was so busy arguing with herself in her head that the distance didn't seem long at all and soon enough they were at a small clearing with tents, a RV, screaming people, and biters.

Ace looked around, inspecting the people. Most of them seemed harmless and helpful, plus, they had woman and children that were being pushed to "safety." The men Ace had just met, ran up, pulling out guns and starting to shoot at the biters growling around. Ace having history with letting people get killed and wanting to save them, she couldn't help her self from pulling out her own gun and starting to shoot some of the biters. They weren't as bad to kill with a gun from a distance, but it still felt wrong deep inside Ace.

She kept feeling eyes on her, especially from the redneck, Daryl, almost the whole time, but soon the gun shoots all slowed to a stop.

People's screams of terror were not as loud any more and Ace watched as Rick Grimes ran over to a little boy and a pretty woman, yelling out "Carl," as they all cried. It was heart wrenching to see all the people dead over the ground, especially the girl who had another blonde girl over top of her, crying in agony.

Ace was standing still, face emotionless, but insides filled with emotion. She didn't know what to do now and her heart reached out to these people, but she stayed back.

The tears of the people here was the only thing that made noise in her ears between the shocked silence for a while, until Rick got up and came over to her. No words were said as he reached his hand out again, looking into her eyes with his trust worthy, stern, and a seemingly thankful look for helping their camp. Ace this time grabbed his hand, giving him a nod while she shook it.

"Rick, who is this?" A strong and dark haired man strode over, clutching his shot gun by his legs. Ace squinted her eyes at him, something she does when she's observing or thinking hard.

"This is Ace, we met her on our way back. She's going to stay here, at least for the night," Rick was being stern and Ace could feel some tension coming off the two.

"You sure about that, man?" The dark, curly haired guy asked, shifting the hand he used to grip his gun.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Rick put his hands on his hips.

"We don't even know her, Rick. We can't trust to keep this girl at our camp. We've lost enough."

Everyone was watching them diligently, but Ace was the only one to notice a lone biter that had snuck out of the forest, sneaking it's way behind the man who was arguing with Rick. Ace took this chance, pulling her gun up. This caught the dark haired man's attention immediately, and she could tell he was about to pounce in anger at her, but she pulled the trigger fast enough, lowering it right after the shot rang out. Most people looked at her shocked, the dark haired man most of all when he found no bullet wounds in himself and then turned to see the dead biter behind him.

"She can stay," Rick repeated and then walked off to what she assumed was his family.

The other man stalked off, running a hand through his hair and a older man walked over to her. "Dale," he put his hand out and Ace hesitantly shook it. "You can sleep in the RV tonight," he gave her the best smile he could and Ace just nodded, following after him when he signaled her to. Multiple pairs of eyes were on her and Ace was looking forward to being away from them, into the RV she was being led to.

Before she walked all the way in, Ace took a glimpse at the two blonde girls- one dead, who looked like sisters and she could only think about Frankie at the time..

"A few others will be sleeping in here, but there is a spot open on the floor and the bench that's open," Dale turned once inside and spoke kindly to her. She nodded and set her bag down on the bench he pointed to, looking around the RV quickly. It was warm and home-like, filled with appliances, dishes, and little nick-nacks.

Dale was about to start walking, but Ace's sharp in take of breath signaled she wanted to say something. "You haven't..." She bit her lip, "you haven't seen any buses or children around here have you?" Her voice was quiet, but still above a whisper. Socializing wasn't her specialty, even more so now that the world was ended.

"Not that I know of.. You have a child?" Dale looked at her with sympathetic eyes.

"Baby sister. She was with the -uh, foster care center down town, but no one was there and the buses were gone.." Ace had the habit of fiddling with her pockets when she talked.

"I'm sure she's out there somewhere. The buses possibly went out to Fort Benning, maybe even the CDC," Dale gave her a small smile and she just nodded, thinking about everything that he just said, like usual. Dale gave her a light pat on the shoulder then started to walk out, getting to the door before Ace spoke up again. "Thank you," she spit out, remembering her manners.

Dale once again smiled warmly at her before hoping out of the RV, leaving her to her lonesome.

Ace sat down on the bench that was next to a white table with a few dishes on it, letting her mind and body take in her surroundings. She scooted so her back was against the wall, legs on the bench, and bag on the floor. Her mind was going over every thing that happened today, down to looks she got or words that were said. Over analyzing everything until she started to wear herself out. But, even then there was still a lot for her to think about. Like; who are these people? They seem nice, too nice to have chained someone to a roof. And Merle... Where is he? And what's up with his interesting brother? How long should she stay here? How long was she welcomed here? Would Frankie really possibly be at the CDC? Fort Benning? Why was her back hurting so much?

On the last question she sighed and sat up so she could rub her hands into her back, trying to smooth out the pain. She did let her hands fall when she heard feet come up the steps and then the door to the RV open. A little girl and who Ace assumed was her mom walked in, along with T-dog, Glenn, and Dale following shortly behind.

The little girl who clung onto her mother as she walked by gave Ace a small smile, which she easily returned. She had always loved children and had a soft spot for them. Glenn and Dale gave her a nod and a small smile before going further into the RV for their sleeping spots, but T-dog came over to her to sit on the other bench across the table. "You from around here?" He asked, getting comfortable.

Ace gnawed on her cheek and nodded, only giving him a small glance before keeping her eyes down at her fidgeting hands. "You don't talk much do you?" T-dog chuckled to himself a little. Ace just nodded. "Yeah, I noticed that, but hey, no problems here," he held his hands up in the air and the scooted back. "You stayin here long?"

"Just for tonight," she mumbled and T-dog nodded.

"Looks like you're good with a weapon, we could use some more strong people after tonight.. You should think about staying for a little bit."

Ace looked up at him quickly. "Of course we'd have to make sure we can trust you first, but still.." Ace saw kindness on his face, and nodding slightly, even though she was planning on leaving tomorrow, if not first thing. She had to move on. "Feel free to kick me if I start to snore," T-dog said and then laid down on the bench, positioning himself in the most comfortable spot. Ace chuckled lightly and soon did the same, hoping her mind would be running so fast that it would knock her out.

#####################################

Ace felt refreshed.

The cushions of the bench and warmth and safety of the RV provided her with a reasonably good sleep, much better than what she's gotten lately. Since she was an early riser, it was still dark out, but light enough that she could see her surroundings. Ace debated if she wanted to leave right now, but decided she would at least go down to the quarry that she saw was near by. She loved to swim, and that would be the closest thing she would have for a bath. Plus, she wants to wait until at least Rick is up to thank him.

Ace silently sat up and slid off the bench, grabbing her bag and using her quietest footsteps to sneak out and not wake anyone up. When she got outside, the air was still full of the stench of dead biters, making her bite her tongue in disgust. She knew some one was on top of the RV taking watch, but when she walked by and no one said anything, she noticed that the angry man from last night was up there, and happened to be asleep. She scoffed, if they were dumb enough to fall asleep then shes not gona be dumb enough to help him.

Ace started to walk over to the quarry, positioning her gun in the back of her pants as she did so. When she got down there, she took a moment to look at how pretty it was. The air was now fresh and the light ripples of the waves were the only things that sounded out. There were large rocks and hills near by, but the quarry was mostly surrounded by trees. It was odd to see something so beautiful during the end of the world.

Ace sighed and set her bag down on the near by rock, then put her gun and knife next to it. She certainly didn't think any biters would be alive down in the water. Ace then stripped down to just her underwear, feeling the cold metal of her dog tags around her neck. She sighed, twirling it between her fingers, the guilt still prominent. Hell, she even felt guilty for the biters she had to kill, knowing that they didn't deserve what the got and used to have lives. She knew in the back of her head that she wasn't supposed to feel guilt for that, but she had always been an expert at being guilty.

Her eyes then started to look down at her body, noticing the substantial amount of dirt and weight loss that has accumulated along with scraps, bruises, and scars. Maybe she looked as bad as she felt..

Ace let her mind snap out of her thoughts and become happy to be able to swim again. The lightest of smiles danced across her face and she fast-walked into the quarry, the cold water making her shiver with delight. And soon enough she was deep enough to dive under, the water cascading around her, feeling oddly safe for once as she swam deeper and deeper, not knowing she had company.

And that company was standing behind a tree, waiting for her to pop back up. He didn't know why he followed her, or why he pretended to be sleeping when she left the RV, but now, standing here, he was excited to see her dripping wet, unclothed. But, he grew confused when she hadn't reappeared from the water for a while, not knowing of the skill she picked up to hold her breath for a long time. He started to stalk forward, eyeing the water carefully and trying not to make any sticks crack under his feet.

When he got to the edge of the quarry, water nearly brushing against his feet, his eyes grew tired from trying to see any commotion under water where she had to be.. but there was none. _Maybe she drowned.. _He shrugged and turned around, starting to walk back, this time not caring about how loud he was. Until the click of a gun being cocked behind him echoed out, causing him to freeze.

Ace almost laughed at the irony of how only last night she had a gun cocked behind her, but this man wasn't fast or smart enough to turn around fast with his shot gun raised, having it dragging at his side right now. She hadn't yet learned his name, but knew he was hot tempered and seemed to have a lot of tension with other group members, which mostly means bad news. Especially if he was out here trying to creep on her, not knowing she was so much better at sneaking around. Hence how she's the one with the gun pointed to the back of his head.

He chuckled dryly and slowly turned around, playfully putting his hands in the air while taking a once over of her wet body, freezing momentarily at her odd, but intense eyes. "You're quiet.. Snuck up on me," The man said, trying to give her a threatening glance, but she didn't budge, he thought it unfair because her eyes were able to send sharp, threatening chills down his spine. They even made him hesitate for a moment until he started to eye the gun in her hands instead, rubbing a hand over his head with an amused look on his face. Ace was honestly surprised no one had said anything about them yet.. "You gona shoot me?.. I knew we shouldn't have let you in the camp, I mean look, the first chance ya get you're tryin' to kill someone," He knew he could switch this up, make a story out of it to get her gone. Ace knew this too, but stayed quiet. She wansn't planing on staying anyways and wasn't going to give this man the satisfaction. "Gona kill me yet? Kill my group? You know what?.. Maybe I should just get you gone now.."

"I'll be gone by tonight," she finally stated, cutting him off before he could make a move and then turning around and going back to the rock, agitated. If she had only been here a night and was already getting threats and tension started up, then she sure as hell wasn't going to stay. She hadn't been here long, but she could tell this group wasn't a sturdy one. They're broken. Only going to end up getting her killed.

Ace only had one shirt left so she buttoned it back on, it being her gray plaid one, having lost all her other ones or they got too disgusting. She had really planned on changing her underwear, but not when she still felt his presence behind her, so she just pulled out a pair of shorts, sliding them on. She had just gotten her shoes back on when a strong hand grasped her upper arm, spinning her around harshly. "Na, I think I want you gone now," he hissed. What's the difference between now and in a few hours?

He went to grab at her, trying to get his hand around her neck, waist, wrists, or even breast, but she was fast. Her knife had still been pocketed in the sheath on her pants, so she quickly squirmed out of his arms with a duck and yanked it out. He was taken by surprise when she managed to get them both turned around, so he now was leaning against the rock, her knife at his through. "How..?" He thought out loud, no one had ever gotten the upper hand on him before, and he made her out to just be another woman. Only having skills to do laundry and cook food. "You want me out now?" Ace asked, breathing deeply to stay calm. "Fine," she hissed. "I don't want to be with you and your broken group anyways, don't need to be killed today... But, you could have at least asked," this was the most words she had said since she got here, but she planned for them to be the last.

Ace yanked her knife away from his throat, him being shocked for long enough for her to also grab her gun and bag and start to walk away, this time in the direction that goes deeper into the forest. "HEY!" He called over to her, finally getting his head back on straight. He started stomping over to her, making Ace sigh so she could try and not get agitated. "What the hell was that?" He was angry now, not liking being made out to look like a fool, even if no one saw.

Ace didn't say anything, just eyed the man with sharp eyes. She didn't even know his name, but just by his demeanour and the things he said and way he spoke she could tell a lot about him. She was good at reading people, and she honestly felt bad for him. She would bet a whole can of beans that he used to be a nice guy before all this started. That he possibly lost a lot or got screwed over, most likely with Rick, the sheriff, since she had notice a lot of tension between them last night. "What you mean our groups broken?" He put his hands on his hips, trying to read what she meant out of her expression, but got nothing, so yet again got even more angry.

"T'hell's goin on?" A new, rough voice called out from behind Ace. And she recognized it immediately as the man she met last night named Daryl. His voice was more raspy and unique than the others, along with his personality. Also, he was Merle's brother. It was hard to forget that.  
Ace watched out of her peripheral vision as Daryl came over, holding onto his crossbow tight and in yet another sleeveless shirt. This was the first time Ace was really able to see him, now that it was daylight. She tried not to look at him for too long, but his whole appearance was pulling her eyes over. "Shane?" Daryl said, his voice not happy and his eyes narrowing at the man. And Ace finally new his name. Shane.

"Ain't nothin goin on, man. She was just leavin," Shane shifted his weight onto another leg, still eyeing Ace oddly. Daryl seemed to sense that something was going on, not only because Shane was just an all around douche bag, but because he could see Ace gripping tight onto her knife and had a colder look in her eyes.

"I think ya just leavin," Daryl took a step forward towards Shane, copying his words and an angry scowl on his face. Ace watched as Daryl and Shane had a small stare down, it being obvious that Daryl just really wasn't a fan of Shane. It wasn't until Shane scoffed, switching the hand he held onto his gun with and then turned away, angrily amused and finding the situation not worth it.

Once he left Daryl's sight, Ace watched as Daryl started fixing something on his belt. She was confused what he was doing until she leaned over and saw multiple squirrels on a string and a few tucked under his belt. When Daryl looked up she quickly pretended like she was looking at her feet the whole time, feeling his eyes on her and that same angry scowl still in place. "Th-" she started to mumble her thanks for getting Shane away, but Daryl cut her off. "Come on, don't got all day," he snapped, starting to head back, but Ace stayed in her place. She was planning on leaving, she didn't need to stay here. Especially now that she had made bad terms with Shane and found this group to be a threatening mess.

Daryl noticed she wasn't coming and stopped turning around to face her. "Ya comin or what?" He growled. Ace didn't like the sound of his voice angry, but she guessed that he was like that a lot. She hadn't heard him be nice once yet, even if she has only been here for a night. Ace yet again didn't respond, just let her eyes focus on her hand that was flexing and unflexing around her knife.

Daryl wanted to know what the hell she was doing or what was going on in her head, but it only made him more angrier knowing he couldn't. "_Ya comin or what?_" He repeated, taking a few steps towards her, that same agitated voice. "Fine. Suit yaself, stupid bitch. Next time ya can take care of ya own ass when some horny douche bag comes by ya," his voice was harsh and he was angrily swinging his crossbow by his side. "_Stupid bitch_," he mumbled again in more of a hiss at her, but this time Ace's head snapped up, making Daryl take a hesitant step back. He hadn't actually seen her eyes yet and they even made chills go down his spine, which was odd. They seemed to be clouded with anger, which gave Daryl satisfaction, but that's not the main thing he noticed. He had never seen eyes like hers before; two different colors. Two different pale, intimidating, but yet amazing colors.

Ace was now very agitated, more so at her self. She had never let someone's hurtful comments or just asshole-ness get to her, but for some reason his just did. His whole angry demeanour and the way he talked to her like she was an insect made her feel more hurt and pissed inside then she meant to happen. She did nothing to get him to be an asshole out of nowhere to her, she even helped his group and his brother! Even if he didn't know she helped his brother, he doesn't need to just be so rude. And it was even worse that Daryl enjoyed how she got angry. But, now that she had him hesitating, her eyes like her own weapon, she wasn't going to give him another lick of satisfaction. Which, also caused her to be more angry at herself. She wasn't planning on staying and didn't even want to, but all because of him she had to make herself go back. If he didn't want her to come back, then she would go back.

She made sure she had everything she brought down here and started to storm past Daryl, not breaking her angry eye contact until she couldn't crane her neck back anymore.

_Well, here we go..._

**I'm so so so sorry for the long wait! I didn't mean for it to be this long, especially because this is a new story! I'm going to try and update a lot more now!**

**I'm still not sure how I feel on this point of view, but it seems to be going okay? And this chapter wasn't my best and I felt like I just kinda winged it so let me know what you guys think!**

**How are you guys liking it so far?How are you liking Ace? She's more of a quiet, mindful character.. how will she get along with the others? Will she?**

**Daryl being an asshole to her? Will she want to join the group?**  
**More Daryl will be coming soon! Love you all xx**


	4. Chapter 4

Ace arrived back at their camp and agitated scowl on her face, almost resembling the one Daryl had on only minutes ago. She saw that people were getting up now, some eating a quick breakfast. Shane was one of those people, his eyes glued harshly to her as she walked by, which Ace didn't fail to notice. He probably was wondering why she was still here.. Hell, even she was wondering that.

"Ace," Rick got up from sitting on a lawn chair by the burnt out fire pit and went to catch up with her. Everyone at camp had thought she left, some even a little afraid that she was hidding just to come out and hurt them or steal from them. But, Rick noticed her dripping wet hair. "Went for a swim?" He was now standing in front of Ace.

She just nodded, letting one of her hands grip onto the strap of her backpack. "Next time I would like if you told someone, we don't need people running off, especially people we don't know that could be a threat," he put his hands on his hips, his eyes trying to bore into hers. Well, she thought that he trusted her.. He was the one that invited her to stay. It was understandable, though, but he seemed weird saying it, so she was sure he probably was just saying it for the group.

Ace could tell just by speaking to him that he was leader, which she didn't like. She didn't like how he thought she was the boss of her, when she wasn't part of his group. She also thought that this man wasn't well adjusted enough to the world, that he didn't realize the impact of what was happeing. For starters, there is no police force anymore. No reason to wear his get up. Also, from what she could tell his emotions were always at stake, always worn on his sleeves, easy to read. You make impartial decisions when your angry, or sad, or over protective. Which he was. He wasn't a bad man, though. He was kind, loyal, and very generous to let her stay the night, even if he had handcuffed Merle to a roof, which she couldn't place why he would to that.

"Would you like something to eat? We have some fish left over from last night." Ace squinted her eyes at him, but didn't have to say anything before he led her over to the people surrounding the fire. "Have a seat if you'd like," Rick said, going over to pick up an old dish that had chunks of fish in it. Ace looked around and saw the mass amount of dead biter bodies lying around, but they dragged them away from where they were sitting far enough, even though it did still reek. She also noticed that the blonde girl she saw last night was still sitting over a dead body, which was terribly heart breaking. And then, Ace saw that the only open seat was one right next to Shane, which looked like they had pulled out of an old car. Ace grew even more uncomfortable, not really ever enjoying being around a whole group, especially if she didn't know them, but also if she was sitting next to the guy who just tried to attack her.

She also found that people were all watching her, confused why it was taking her so long to move, but as soon as she took a hesitant step forward, out of nowhere Daryl came over and sat in the seat she was going to with a huff.

Ace didn't even see him follow her back, but she just did her best to ignore him while angrily gnawing on her lip and then moving across from where she was standing. She set her backpack down on the ground and took her gun and put it inside, so it was resting on the top, before she sat.. The silence from the group was awkward and tense enough that it could be cut with a knife.

Rick leaned over, handing her a small tin that he put her serving in and a fork, then sitting back down next to his family. Or what Ace assumed to be his family; a petite dark haired woman and a little boy that couldn't be older than elementary school. Ace actually did catch his eye and she gave him a warm smile, being in the presence of kids always seemed to make her feel better.

Which was another reason she wished she could just find her sister already. Frankie was still very young, but she was smart and was Ace's best friend, who she missed uncontrollably.

Ace sighed and started picking at her fish, trying to ignore the completely awkward silence from the group. "Uh.. So Ace.. you from around here?" Ace looked up, barely recognizing the voice as Glenn's, the Asian boy she met last night, asking the same question she was asked last night by T-dog. She had noticed that Glenn himself is just an awkward, shy person, but she didn't mind, she was a lot like that too, but not so noticeably. Ace just kept quiet, that was her trait. She was always the one that kept to herself, but had a million things going on in her head, much like now when all she did was nod, paying more attention to her fish than the eyes on her.

She did manage to see Glenn nod as well, then awkwardly play with his food. "..Cool.. You came from the city.. Were you there long?"

At this point Ace was becoming more and more uncomfortable. Everybody had stopped what they were doing and looked up at her intently, eyes boring into her, making her flesh feel like it was on fire. Except for Daryl, he was still looking down, but Ace could tell he was listening intently. "No."

Ace looked up now, scanning around the group, even meeting the eyes of who she assumed was Rick's son, "woah, what's with your eyes?" He asked.

"Carl! You don't just ask people those things, apologize," The petite woman said, his mother. Fuck, could it get anymore awkward?

"...Sorry," Carl bowed his head down for a moment.

"It's okay," Ace said with a slight smile, making the boy look up at her and smile warmly back.

Everyone was very curious to what was wrong with her eyes, even Daryl was looking up more now to see if she was going to respond, but it just put Ace on edge. That woman had just said it was rude, but really she only said that to be polite... everyone else was just afraid to ask.

Ace's eyes ended up meeting the older man, Dale's, and thank god for him sensing her complete uncomfortable-ness and anxiety. "Well, I guess we should get started on these bodies.. Burn the dead ones," he sat up, and gave Ace a slight nod, making her breathe out in thankfullness.

Everyone else silently agreed and stood up, putting away their eating stuff. Ace followed what everyone else did and walked over to Dale, "uh, thanks," she tried to smile at him.

"Not a problem, dear.. They can be a little bit.. much," he chuckled to him self, which Ace tried to do as well.

She nodded in agreement, "I'll help with the bodies."

Dale sent her his thanks, the groups as well, and then Ace went over to start dragging the dead biter bodies to the fire they had just built up real big. She thought she might as well help these people since they gave her a place to sleep and food.

People were now chattering to each other a lot more now, but it wasn't the happiest of chatter, since they were dragging some of their dead group members around.. Ace tried her best to only move the ones that looked too gross to be one of their group, not feeling it was really her place to do so, since she never knew them. She was getting pretty lucky with that, Glenn nor T-dog didn't say anything when she dragged one by one over to them. They were the ones burning all the biter bodies.

After a few bodies Ace was already sweating a lot, completely forgetting about her cool swim only a little while ago, the hot Georgia sun now baking her skin. Just thinking about how hot it was made Ace thirsty, so after dropping her last body over, she went to her bag and pulled out one of her water bottles, taking a drink. While she did so she saw all the women sitting in the chairs still, sweating as much as she was, but not laying a finger on one of the bodies.

Ace went to turn around, but slammed into someone as she did, spilling the water over the both of them a little. "Would ya watch where ya fuckin goin?" He snapped, "dumb bitch," Daryl gave her the harshest look he could muster up and walked off again, rubbing at the wet spot on his shirt, even if it did feel nice and cool. Ace scoffed, wondering if he knew any other insult than the word 'bitch' and twisted the cap back on her water. She didn't feel like being angry at him, or even embarrassed for running into him.

But, she did let her eyes follow him for a minute. He had a pick ax swinging in his hand, heading over to where Rick was standing near her. He also looked as dirty and sweaty as she did, but in his sleeveless shirt, he looked a lot better than her.

"Y'all can't be serious, let that girl hamstring us? That dead girls a time bomb," Daryl said, moving on in conversations. Ace bent down to her back, taking as much time as she could to put her water away so she could eavesdrop. "And what do you suggest?" Rick argued.

"Take the shot. Clean, in the brain, from here. Hell, I can hit a turkey 'tween the eyes from this distance," Daryl pointed over to the two blonde girls.

"No. For god sake's let her be," Rick's wife interjected, ending that conversation. She must be the queen bee or something, the way she talked sounded like she thought that of herself.. Probably because her husbands the leader.

"An' what 'bout her?" Daryl asked, this time his voiced hushed down a level, but still making Ace stop what she was doing. She new he was pointing to her. "She with us now? Or we just draggin her around like a lost puppy?"

"She doesn't seem like a threat," Dale argued.

"Ya an' how do we know tha'? We don't no anythin about her," Daryl countered.

"She helped us with the walkers last night and is doing the same today... Dale's right; she doesn't seem like a threat and looks like she can use a weapon.. It's up to her," Rick added. Ace was surprised with this, and that Daryl didn't say anything snotty or "stupid bitch", he just backed up, going back to his work with a snort. So Ace did the same, minus the snort, even though she found him unfair.

She already knew that she was going to be leaving soon enough, so she wouldn't have to worry about that agitating redneck again. Merle wasn't even this bad as he was, and he was a high flirt! She hasn't even been here for 24 hours and Daryl was already jumping on his chance to get under her skin when she hasn't done anything but help them. Whatever, she'll be out of his hair by tonight so no need to stress on it.

"Hey! Whoa, whoa, whoa, what are you guys doing?" Glenn said, catching Ace's attention. She looked to the side, halting from picking up another dead body to see what was going on. "This is for geeks. Our people go over there," Glenn pointed to the pile across from him.

"What's the difference, they're all infected?" Daryl said, a little too rudely than something that would have sat well with Ace. She didn't even feel right burning the biters in the first place, so she completely understood Glenn getting upset. "Our people go in the row over there," Glenn stated again, his voice cracking. Both Daryl and the man he was dragging with stopped to look up at him. "We don't BURN THEM!.. We bury them, understand?" It was not hard to tell Glenn was close to tears, and it made Ace feel bad.

There was an awkward silence yet again lingering over the camp, everyone silently watching what was going on. But, people started to go back to their business when they moved the body away from the fire, sweat glistening off their skin. Ace still kept her eyes following them, squinting from the sun and from concentration, surprised that Daryl didn't snap something back, and half expecting him to do so. She really can read people well, and she knew Daryl's type.. He was an asshole on the outside, layered with many levels of different emotions, but the only one he knows and is comfortable to show is anger. Which has to be why he's such a dick, right?

Or Ace was all wrong and he just enjoys putting people down under. But, if she was right, she felt bad for him. He lost his brother, and she knew what it was like to not know if your siblings alive, and in order for him to shield himself this much something must have happened. But, right now she was mostly just annoyed with him.

"You reep what ya soe," Daryl said. Ahh, she knew it. But, also didn't understand it.

"Shut up man," the other man snarked.

"Y'all left my brother for dead! You had this comin!" He yelled, pointing at the dead bodies and storming off. So thats what it's about? He knew they handcuffed his brother on a roof and is still here? Still helping them? Why would they do that in the first place? Ace was beyond curious. But also was thinking if she should tell Daryl she found Merle... She lost him again anyways, so it's not like it would do any good, and it's not like she really wants to go out of her way to tell this guy. He'll just get mad and be a dick to her again, something she does not want.

She did want to know why they left Merle in the first place. So, she got up from her crouched position and walked over to Dale who was now standing near the RV, keeping some sort of watch. She felt more comfortable asking him because he had helped her out already, and because he sort of reminded her of her grandfather. She always felt more comfortable around older people or kids, completely excluding her own age group, which probably wasn't the best thing.

Dale gave her a warm smile when she walked over, letting his rifle lean against his lap. "Sorry about your camp," she said, her voice in a shy mumble.

"Thank you," he gave her a small, sad smile. "We lost a lot of people," he looked toward the two blonde girls. Ace wondered if he was close with them..

She nodded, "Daryl's brother one of them?" She asked, pretending she didn't know, but knowing that Dale heard Daryl's little out burst.

"No... Merle w-"

"What 'bout Merle?" That southern accent snapped out. Ace cringed slightly at it, this being the last thing she wanted, her luck was sucking lately. Neither Daryl nor Ace said anything, so Daryl who was behind them came in front. "You got somethin' to say, old man?" He hissed and Ace's fists clenched a little, Daryl noticing and him turning to her. "Why don' ya just mind ya own fuckin business and go back to where you came from, huh?" he sneered, this time looking directly at her. What the hell did she ever do to him? She barely took a small step forward, leaning into him with her eyes sharp to his, as if daring him to say something like that again, even though he really just made her want to back away.. But, he was also making her so angry by being rude to Dale, a nice man who did nothing, and to her as well. He can't just get away with being mean to everyone? He's like a child that makes him self feel better with the satisfaction of pissing other people off.

She saw Daryl hesitate, one of the reasons she loved her eyes. They were weapons. But, Daryl soon scoffed, returning the harsh glare before turning around, finding it amusing that Ace was getting mad and trying to play off what was in his mind. "Don't mind Daryl.. he'll warm up to you," Dale said to her. Ace just sighed and gave Dale a slight nod, heading back over to her bodies to drag.

"Guys! It's Jim! A walker got him! A walker bit Jim!" A woman from the middle of camp cried out. Maybe everyone thought Ace was a threat because they just haven't been introduced to her? She really only knows a few peoples names.

Her attention was now on high alert of the man named Jim, even if she was lingering in the back of the group while everyone circled around him, not feeling comfortable. This wasn't her business. But, she did see Daryl come up and yank up his shirt to reveal a bite, then pace around while running a hand through his hair afterwards. Maybe they were friends?

"I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay.. I'm okay..." The man, Jim, kept repeating. It sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than anyone else. But, everyone knows what happens when you are bit, you get sick.. You turn into one of those monsters and have to be put down.. And Ace hated that. She watched as the whole group looked at Jim with sadness and even she felt bad for these people..

"What if the CDC still up 'nd running?" This caught Ace's attention.

She was minding her own business, sharpening her knife while the rest of this group was in a circle talking about what to do with Jim, her not being part of that. But, she did want to be now if they were thinking about going to the CDC. She didn't know how big the chance was, but there was a possibility Frankie could be there, and with these people she could catch a ride..

Rick and Shane starting arguing lightly again, which only supported the idea that Ace had about them having problems, and from what she could tell Shane was the one at loss. "Shelter, protection, rescue..." Rick argued, but all Ace could here was 'Frankie'. "Rick, I know you want those things, I- I do too, okay? Now if they exist, they're at the army base, Fort Benning," Shane countered.

Now this had Ace standing up, walking over. Two places where Frankie might be. Two places that could both very easily be up and protected, even though Ace felt like they would have a better shot at Fort Benning. They were an army base, and if anyone is going to stay up its going to be a branch of the army or military, or anything like that. She knew how locked and loaded bases like those could be, and they had the perfect amount of protection if the base was yet to be overrun.

As Shane went on giving reasons to go to Fort Benning, which were completely good points, Ace caught Dale's eye. "Ace?" Dale asked, catching her by surprise, "do you have a say on anything?" Everyone looked over at Ace and she knew what they were thinking, 'she's not part of this group' 'it's not her say' 'she wont know anything.' But, she did have some information about the army base, and Dale knew that she was looking for her little sister. She didn't like the amount of eyes on her, but stepped forward anyways.. If she wanted to catch a ride with these people, she needed to convince them. "Where's Fort Benning at?" She knew the general area, but she also knew another military base was close by as well.

"100 miles South from here," Shane responded. Ace wasn't on good terms with Shane, but right now he was the only one making sense. Ace also did the calculations in her head. She stayed in contact with some of her buddies from the Marine's and even a few who had trasnfered to the Army, and lets just say she made some calls as soon as she heard about the outbreak. She had some information. "Down by Columbus?" She questioned, wheels turning.

"Yeah, about so," everyone looked at her with curiosity. Fuck, if it was up to her she would have taken this group and driven their asses up there as soon as she thought of it. That was their best chance. "Fort Benning... That's your best chance," she stated, ignoring the uncomfortable looks she was getting. For some this was the first time she really talked.

"Where does her say come into this?" A woman with very short gray hair standing next to Rick asked very quietly, and rudely. "Yeah, this is nobody's deal, but ours," Rick's wife added along side.. Ace was just giving these people some helpful advice. She let out a sigh and held back a scoff before rolling her eyes and going to turn back around. If these people were gona give her crap about her helping, then she didn't need to put up with giving it to them. Their loss.

Before she turned around she did catch a nod from Shane.

"She could have had something helpful to say," she heard Dale say. She liked Dale. And maybe she would have to learn to like others for the time being if she was going to catch a ride with them to the CDC or Fort Benning.. Hopefully it wont be for too long since people aren't her specialty and tend to only bring her down, but she'll do whatever to find Frankie again..

**Woo yay knew chapter! (And another one in the works) **  
**I'm sorry it's taking so long for me to update, but I am on Thanksgiving break right now, so I'm going to try to keep a good flow going! Especially now that were on a good part in season 1 of the show! **

**What do you guys think so far? Ace changing her mind about leaving right away to 'catch a ride' with the group? Do you think she will stay for long after? What about the things shes not telling them? And Daryl being an asshole?**

**I'm also thinking about for this story to make some developements on other characters that I didn't with Wake The Dead... Like I'm going to try and show a good side to characters I showed a bad side to or just characters I really didn't mention a lot at all.. so basically just giving Ace new friends:p **

**I hope you all are enjoying! I lovee youuu!**


	5. Chapter 5

_"Fuck!" Gonzales, my semi-good buddy in our troop yelled out. A cannon that was set off hit way to close for him for comfort. Normally we didn't get much action where we were stationed this year, but the Marine Corps are the branch that always end up getting some sooner or later, especially when trying to keep a sea lane open, like now. We were currently down in Germany, where we have headquarters and a vessel at, which obviously someone didn't like._

_As for me I was already on the ground, trying to army crawl over to a better spot while at the same time trying to fix my helmet that was sliding down onto my face as I did._

_My ears were ringing from the sound of explosions, yelling, ship horns, and even gun shots. And when a bullet whizzed by me, far too close to my head for me to be okay with, I quickly rolled onto my back. My chest was heaving up and down fast, breaths struggling to come out evenly and hands shaking a little from fear. "Ace?!" Gonzales called, but I ignored him. I focused on my breathing. On my fear. I took a moment to sound everything out but my fast heart beat and started to count to 3 as slow as I could, sucking up every ounce of fear as I did._

_And when I finished, snapping open my eyes, I was completely focused. This needs to end._

_"Ace?! Are you good?!" Gonzales called again, making me realize it probably seemed like I got shot_

_"Yeah! M'good!" I yelled, only to be cut off by another cannon getting shot off. Things were now on fire everywhere, making things also hard to see. This needs to end, and if someone is not going to do it, I am._

_"Where's Ray at?!" Gonzales army crawled over to me, it took him a while, trying to be stealthy and watching for bombs, but he eventually got to it. "He said he had our flank!" Ray is our commanding officer, our boss. The big guy here that without him, things would be screwed. But, right now no one can find him. "You think they got'em?" Gonzales asked, both of us lying flat against the back side of a boulder we got to._

_I didn't respond, just started to look around. Our men were doing a good job, we could get past this, but if we don't take out the enemies commanding officer.. we don't have a win. I squinted my eyes, trying to look past all the smoke and commotion, only to spot exactly who I wanted to see._

_I sat up, getting back onto my feet and hunching over as I started running. "Ace!" Gonzales called, but I ignored. I can do this. I can end this. There was another boulder at least 20 yards away from me, so if I can get there, I can get ready. So, I turned myself into full focus and went into gear._

_When I got there, finishing my treacherous run, I slammed my back against it, huffing like crazy. Fuck, that was a close call. "Ace! ACE!" Gonzales was still calling my name, but I couldn't make out his figure and didn't have time to try. I ignored him. I counted to three. And on the third number, I spun around, setting my gun up on the top of the boulder and looking for the man I wanted to see. He had no idea I was here yet. He was right in my line of sight and nothing else mattered. Everything else was a blur._

_All the noises were fog to my ears, even my name being yelled by Gonzales many times. My heart hammering in my chest was clear, though._

_I looked through the scope in my gun, cocking it as I did. I lined up the shoot. This was it._

_"ACE! NO!" Gonzales yelled, breaking through the fog surrounding my ears, but all too late. I had pulled the trigger. The bullet was whizzing by, only to stick my target right in the throat. I smiled in victory for a moment, but, it was unbeknownst to me that he had a deadman's trigger in his hand. Or that Ray was fighting right near him, trying to signal me to stop because he was getting close to him and saw the bomb... But, it was too late. My face fell, pure horror struck upon it._

_My targets fingers slipped from the button on the trigger, and all of the sudden he wasn't my target anymore.. He was Frankie. I screamed, but the next thing I know the air all around me was engulfed in flames. I let out another cry, but this time ducked back down behind the rock for protection. Intense heat was surrounding me and beads of sweat poured down my forehead, my breathing heavy once again. My eyes were slammed shut, but when the heat was lowering I shot them open, looking around. But, I was only to find Gonzales on fire in the middle of the path way between me and the protection of his rock. "NO!" I screamed._

_I was now full of fear again and my head was snapping in all different directions, mouth agape. I looked back over to where I saw Frankie, but no one was there anymore, just a wall of flames. And then I heard it. Growls. Hungry groans, making my heart go rigid._

_I looked into the flames and watched as a body stood up, Ray's body. But, it wasn't human anymore. It barely was a body. All the skin was burned, charred, or melted. His bones and muscles in clear view, teeth chomping as he neared me. He was a biter._

_More growls filled the air and my head snapped to my left. Gonzales was now getting up, half of his face on fire. His eye balls melting out of his head as he too now stumbled toward me. Hungry._

Ace shot up so fast that it made her dizzy. She was huffing, tears and beads of sweat rolling down her face. She was frantic. She couldn't breathe.

So she scurried off the bench in the RV, nearly whacking her body against the table as she tried to get out. She needed fresh air.

When she stumbled out of the RV, still doing her best not to wake anyone, she ran down the steps and put her hands on her knees, breathing deeply. Breathing in the cool night air, trying to relax.  
A lot of soldiers after they fight or are off duty have dreams or recurrences like this, post dramatic stress or something. And for Ace it was only heightened. She's always had that dream since it's happened, some nights she might get lucky and not dream at all, but most nights it haunted her, having the same effect. Now, it just had a little twist in it since it is the zombie apocalypse.

You can never forget the feeling of a bomb going off near you.. Because of you... She can never forget exactly what happened in that moment, exactly how she felt. Her heart beating so fast she thought it was going to explode, the pure fear as the flames ignited over her.. The pure fear of knowing she just got people killed. The intense heat that struck her like knives.. The quiet aftermath, creepy and eeiry. And then realizing it was her fault.. that she killed not only her boss, but her friend.. Her fellow Marines.

She was always taught to fight for the Marine next to her. It was about teamwork, loyalty, putting others over yourself... And she didn't do that. She put getting the enemy down over everything, even leaving Gonzales when she was supposed to have his back..

She wished that she had died in that explosion...

Ace stood up, wiping the tears that were smudged on her face away and looking around. She wasn't about to go back in that RV; hot.. full of people. She needed the cool night air, and there is no way she's going to fall back asleep.

She spotted a light glowing from the fire pit, the embers still lightly burning, and a body sitting on a log nearby. She could make out the body, the posture. It was Daryl, and he had a bottle of something dangling loosely in his hand. Fuck it. He's not gona make her run and hide.

Ace started to walk over, making her footsteps loud enough so he could hear and not be startled. She went over to a seat not across from him, but also not next to him, and his head turned over. He could see the paleness on her face, the dark bags under her eyes.. the sweat.

Ace sat down, and silence lingered over them for a while. She was waiting for him to snap at her, to call her a 'stupid bitch', or to try and make her leave, but instead.. "Can't sleep?" Daryl grumbled, almost slurred, causing Ace to realize he had a bottle of alcohol in his hand. So thats why he wasn't being an ass to her, he was drunk. But, where'd he get that? "No," Ace stated. She was hesitating lightly, afraid that Daryl was going to snap at her again, and she didn't have the stability for that right now, but luckily he didn't. He looked back down at the burning embers, letting the silence which was oddly comfortable, remain. It completely did take Ace by surprise, though, when he held out his arm, handing the bottle of alcohol to her. She eyed it and him suspiciously.

"Wha'? Don't tell me ya can't handle ya alcohol, princess," he slurred, almost sarcastically. Ace scoffed and wasn't even thinking as her body moved so she was sitting closer, able to grab it from him. She took a long drink, recognizing the taste of whiskey immediately. The burning sensation was fabulous. Perfect for what she needed, but bringing back all the haunting memories of those late nights she spent with a bottle of booze. Either trying to drink her way to alcohol poisoning, or just fulfilling the rumors of her being an alcoholic. Even if that did all stop when she found out Frankie was born.

Daryl was watching her as she drank, eyebrows raised up. "Here," she handed it back to him after her drink. He eyed her oddly. "If you don't take it now you might never get it back," she mumbled. "_Princess_," this time she smirked, mocking him. Daryl scoffed, his own smirk teasing his lips, and then snatched it back. He was different when alone, not being watched by the group. Maybe the redneck wasn't all that bad?

"'Was left over from my brothers stash," Daryl said, looking down at the bottle in his hands. Ace gnawed on her lip, wondering if she should say anything. "Sorry," she mumbled, looking down. "'bout your brother.."

"He ain't dead," Daryl stated, almost growled angrily. Ace knew that, but she decided to play like she didn't know, mostly to get the story out of him. And Daryl was semi-drunk enough and semi-comfortable enough to tell. "They handcuffed 'em to a roof down in Atlanta. Said he was puttin' 'em in danger.. probably high," Daryl said. He knew his brother was an asshole, but that didn't mean they had to leave him for dead.

Ace had to look down to hide her smile because Merle _was_ in fact high. "I guess they were about to be overrun by walkers or somethin'.. T-dog went to get 'em, but he dropped the key."

"He couldn't pick it up?" Ace asked, almost sneered, making Daryl chuckle. He had said the same thing.

"Dropped it down the drain."

Ace finally nodded in understanding. They handcuffed Merle to get him to stop being reckless and then dropped the key to get him undone.. then had to leave.. This group wasn't evil or murderers, and from the time she spent with Merle she could very well believe that he could be a troublemaker. But, it still sucked that he was just left like that. He wasn't a bad guy deep down, and no one deserves to get what he did. Daryl could see she was thinking deeply, as usual. "We wen't back for 'em, but he cut his damn hand off, runnin around like a headless chicken."

Daryl was trying to be snotty about it, but Ace could hear the underlying sadness in his voice. She knew what it was like to lose a sibling, but at the same time not know if they're dead.. Or worse. "I can't find my sister, either," she added quietly. She was surprised that Daryl had even spoken a civil word to her, and didn't want to push the conversation, but also felt she should say something. Daryl looked up at her, "don't know where she is.. If she's alive, or if she's one of those _things_," Ace growled the last part and Daryl understood completely. Ace scoffed again. "Probably dead."

"Wha'?" Daryl snapped. He did not understand how she could just think that, give up on her. Ace couldn't even believe she just said that, hell, she had never even allowed herself to think that.. But, it always was in the back of her head. It doesn't matter though, she would still find Frankie, no matter what.

"She's only four," Ace mumbled softly, feeling her heart ache. Her best friend was out there somewhere, possibly gone through hell and alone. Then Ace also remembered that her birthday was recently..

Daryl now understood and handed her the bottle back, which she graciously took.

Ace brought the bottle up to her lips, but stopped for a moment. Was she having a "bonding" moment with Daryl? The angry redneck who only earlier hated her guts, as did she?

Daryl awkwardly rubbed his hand over his chin, scratching it a little and looking down at the burning embers. "S-" Daryl cut himself off, snapping his mouth shut and scoffing angrily again, this time angry at himself. He knew Ace wasn't that bad, not at all.. He was oddly interested and really wanted to just ask her what the hell was going on in her head because even when she was talking, she wasn't really saying anything. She was always lost in her head, either really shy or really caught up in her thoughts, or both, and she was just quiet. She would mumble things to her self, get struck with another thought while deep in a different one, and toy with her hands sometimes.

She was a lot like Daryl in ways.

Daryl thought when he first saw her she was just gona be another woman around here that bitched to the guys and the rest of the group, but she was different. And the worst part was he felt oddly comfortable around her. But that just confused him to all hell so he was a dick to her, even if he didn't want to be.

And Ace, this was the most comfortable and at ease she felt since she got here. This camp and group was a mess, making her feel odd and not liking it, but Daryl, even if he was a huge asshole that she thought hated her, he was the only one with his head on semi-straight.

#############

"Alright, everybody listen up," Shane spoke up and Ace directed her attention to him. "Those of you with CB's, were gona be on channel 40, but lets keep the chatter down, okay?" Shane had a good leader trait in him, as well, but he wasn't as emotional, which can be a good thing and a bad thing. "Now if y'all have a problem, can't get ahold of anybody, don't have a CB, ya gona hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan."

Ace was leaning against a car behind the group next to Dale, barely listening while she rubbed at her aching back. Shane had eventually given in to Rick's idea and they were headed to the CDC, to Ace's dismay. Fort Benning would be such a better option, but she couldn't do anything about it. She still decided to tag along, there could be a slim chance Frankie was there.

Ace had noticed Shane having a confrontation with Rick's wife, and she figured out her name was Lori, but everything was clicking in her head when she heard their conversation. Shane wanted Lori. He loved her and Carl like his own family, but Rick was here. And that made her feel completely bad for him. He was even being good taking Rick's side. "Any questions?"

Ace looked up lightly and immediately caught Daryl's eye, which he snapped his glance away, back to the ground quick with that scowl on his face. He had gone back to being cold to her again, which confused Ace because last night he didn't seem bad at all. Either he was a part of her dream, too, or he just isn't drunk anymore. She ignored it and paid her attention to the family that said they weren't going to come, wanting to go find their other family, which Ace completely understood.

She was shifting her gaze around the camp to see saddened looks on every ones faces, except for Daryl who was looking at the ground, biting his nail and occasionally sneaking glances up at her. His dirty blonde hair was all Ace was able to make out on his head when he looked down, but she did notice the color seemed to almost match his plaid shirt, which he had ripped the sleeves off of.. not that Ace was complaining..

"Box is half full," Shane gave the family a gun and some ammo, which caused Daryl to snort in agitation and take an annoyed step backwards. Jesus, what an ass, these people needed it.

Ace watched as everyone said their goodbyes, feeling bad for Carl and the little girl, Sophia, who cried while saying goodbye to their friends. Dale left her side to go say his goodbye, sadness ridden on his face. Dale was her companion and the only one in this group that seemed to give a rats ass.

Ace heard Carl and Sophia mumble an "i'm hungry" sadly to their moms, but they just turned them away. Ace contemplated for a moment, but then in a swift movement brought her backpack down and dug inside, finding two small candy bars she picked up in the city. She moved over to the kids and when their parents backs were to them, she crouched down. "Our secret," she smiled lightly and Carl and Sophia's smiles stretched to their eyes, through the tears, only making her smile grow. "Okay!" They said in hushed voices, taking the candy bars from her and stuffing them in their pockets.

She really did love kids.

Ace went back over to where Dale was and slid her backpack back on. "I'm afraid their isn't much room in the RV, it would be a tight squeeze, but Shane and Daryl have an open spot in their vehicles," Dale said to her, everyone getting ready to leave. She sighed, of course.

Daryl ignored what Dale said and walked over to his truck. He sure as hell wasn't going to offer the open seat, it wasn't something he'd do. Plus, the second seat in his truck was for Merle, always only for Merle. And Daryl was suspicious of getting too close to this girl.

Ace ignored Daryl and watched Shane who was striding over. She didn't feel very comfortable with the idea of riding with him. "I got an open spot," his voice was kinder than she expected, but she still wasn't feeling good about this. Dale gave a weak smile and patted her shoulder before climbing up in the RV. "Look, I'm sorry about what happened," he ran a hand over his head, waiting for an answer that Ace never gave. "I ain't gona try anything, jus' offering a ride."

Ace eyed him, but eventually gave a curt nod and moved past him to the car she had saw him loading, knowing it was his. He sounded truthful enough and plus, she didn't really have another choice, Daryl's truck not really seeming to be open.  
Shane's ride was a smaller jeep that had no top or windows, which was different, but with this heat it seemed kind of nice. So Ace threw her bag in the back and hopped into the passenger seat, waiting for Shane and catching Daryl's eye again when she got settled in. To her surprise, the gaze was held, not hard or angry, just a stare. But, there had to be some underlying meaning when Daryl nodded his head towards Shane and a questioning look in his eye. He had been there when Shane was all over her and now she was going to ride with him? He thought she would go in the RV.. He had already saved her from sitting by him yesterday.. Ace couldn't use words to answer him so she just shrugged, then held the gaze for a moment longer until he gave her a nod and they drove away.

Ace's mind was now in a tizzy. He had seriously just been cold to her, but then out of nowhere they have this "conversation" as if they knew each other.

She was interested in this Daryl character.

Shane reached down and grabbed his cap that had the police force symbol on it and put it on, blocking the sunlight from his eyes. They hand't spoken a word yet, but Ace doesn't think anyone has. Everyone is thinking about what lies ahead. If the CDC will be okay. If they'll be okay..

After a little while a driving and actual conversation with Shane, they stopped unfortunately because of the RV breaking down. Shane actually wasn't all that bad when you got past his outer demeanor.. He was a good guy before all this started, Ace could tell, but after getting his "heart broken" and dealing with biters, people can change. But, she still believed he had some good in side of him.

Shane had spotted a store down the road, so him and T-dog drove up to get supplies. Ace sat sideways on the passenger seat in his car, them taking one of the other vehicles, and with her door open, feet dangling out. She was cleaning out her gun when Carl and Sophia came up to her. "Ace?" Sophia questioned innocently, making Ace look up at them.

"Do you wana play Go Fish with us? Our momma's wont."

Ace smiled and noticed the deck of cards in Sophia's hand. There was many other things they could be doing, or even trying to work on their survival skills, but.. Who could say no? Ace quickly put her gun away and slid out of the seat. Carl and Sophia had sat cross legged on the ground next to each other, already starting to sort out the cards, so Ace took a seat as well, completely their small circle. "Do you know how to play?" Sophia asked, gripping onto a doll with one hand.

"Yeah.. I think so.. But, I might need help remembering," Ace did know how to play, but seeing the joy on Carl and Sophia's face when they started explaining to her was worth so much more.

They were playing in silent concentration for a while, besides the questions you had to ask during the game, the current 'go fish', and the kids giggles, but eventually Carl spoke up. "Ya know, my mom says you shouldn't be with us."

He looked up at her quickly and Ace didn't know what to say. "Mine too," Sophia chirped in.

"She also doesn't think your eyes are cool, but I think she's wrong," Carl said, taking his turn. Ace was frozen momentarily, except for her eyes that were going back and forth between Carl and Sophia. "Yeah, I like you. And your eyes," Sophia added sweetly, this making Ace smile. She was happy the kids took a liking to her, because she had taken a liking to them. She knew the rest of the group was a pain in the butt, but that was okay. She would find Frankie soon and be on her way. That made her frown, but she quickly wiped it gone. "I like you guys, too."

They finished their games of Go Fish, which Ace lost each time, and they were in the middle of teaching her a new game when Lori came by. "Here you are.. Carl I told you to stay by my side, it's dangerous out here," she said this while looking over to Ace. "We were just playing a game, mom," Carl said. Lori turned to Ace and said a light thank you, which Ace nodded at, but knew she wasn't very glad with them playing. "Now come on you two, the RV is fixed, were leaving soon."

Sophia and Carl sighed, grabbing all their cards and standing up, saying a quick goodbye to Ace before following Lori away. Ace managed to catch a "you shouldn't be hanging out with her" "We don't know her, she could be dangerous."

Ace rolled her eyes and stood up, quickly brushing off her pants and then heading around the side of the car to see what was going on. She saw that Shane and T-dog were back, but they were with Rick, helping him carry Jim out of the RV and to a tree. She also got Daryl's eyes, it looking as if he was looking for her before he turned away and followed everybody.

Jim was being dragged into the forest and leaned against a stump, but Ace stayed behind, not having a part in this. Jim knew what was happening to him and he said that he wanted to be with his family, who had all turned. It shook Ace up, how someone would just want to be tied down to die and turn into one of those things. No one deserved to go through that pain.

After everyone saying their final goodbyes, they were back and getting loaded into their cars again with out a word. Hoping that the CDC would be a good find. They all needed it.

**[A/N]: Hey guys, Happy thanksgiving!3**  
**I hope you guys are having a good holiday and what not!**

**I also hope you guys are liking this story so far, and sorry if the point of view thing threw you off a little! And whats going on between Ace and Daryl? He's going back and forth with anger and acceptance towards her, but I think it's safe to say they both "like" each other.**

**I was actually planning on taking their relationship a different way, even slower in the beginning, (like Daryl is just an ass alllll the time for a while), but I wanted to make their connection different, if that makes sense? And almost every Daryl fan fic I've read, Shane is some sort of enemy, so I want to change things up again and see if i can give him a different side. Sorry if that doesn't float your boat!**

**Well, let me know what you guys think, I love you and am thankfull for you all!3**


	6. Chapter 6

_"Stop," I mumbled, a bit disoriented._

_"Miss, we hav-"_

_"Stop," I repeated. "Stop stop stop," my head rolled from side to side, flinching every time I felt the nurses fingers on my skin. Normally I would sit here, not say a word, and get this over with, but I can't anymore. Needle after needle. Injections after Injections. My arms were torn apart from needle holes from the underside of my elbow all the way down to my wrist, on each arm. How long had it been? Weeks? Months? Of everlasting "therapy" or "treatment". _

_"Miss, we just have to get the IV in.." the nurse went on._

_A list of incoherent mumbles and pleads escaped my mouth weakly as I tried to slide as far as I could from the on coming needle. I can't take it anymore. I can't take another one of those god damned things poking into me. I can't take another look from anyone in here. I can't take the pain or the sickness. I can't take the nurse that's voice makes me cringe. I can't take the bills. And I can't even take the smell of this damn hospital. _

_But, I especially can't take the feel of myself rotting, withering away from this sickness. This disease. _

_I've held it together for so long, keeping quiet and pushing through this agonizing process. But, it's catching up to me. All the nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation, fevers, chills, damaged skin, need to always be sleeping, and pain.. Oh so much pain. Everything going on inside my body had to be slowly killing me. On top of all this, this morning I found out I will never be able to have kids.. I'm infertile. _

_And the best part is chemo might not even fully work. _

_Is this what I get for what happened in Germany? _

_"Miss!" The nurse called me, but when I felt the cold tip of that needle, I shot up from the chair. I started to hurriedly make my way out of the room, knocking over a metal table as I did, the noise making my head hurt. I wanted to help pick it up, but instead I used it as my way to get out of here. _

_By the time I pushed my way outside and busted through the door, the bright sunlight was beaming down at my eyes. It only made my head hurt, still being hungover from last night. Ever since my incident in Germany, alcohol has been my only friend. But, my drinking is always the worst the nights before my hospital visits, which is a lot. I'm not supposed to, of course, but I don't care. It's become a routine. I drink and drink and drink so I can forget, but end up only forgetting where my bed is. Then I wake up, hangover worse than anything in the world, and drag myself to the hospital only to get jabbed a billion times and told in voices that tried to put off care, but only held 'i have a billion other patients and you reek of alcohol lets hurry this up' that I am slowly just slipping.. getting no better. Then I'd come home again. I'd throw up what seemed to be more times than I can count, both a side effect of my chemo and hangover. Then can you guess what happens next? I drink more. Crash. Throw up more. Repeat._

_Maybe I'm trying to subconsciously kill myself._

_I stuffed my hands in the pockets of my hoodie.. It's the middle of summer.. I'm always cold now. I sighed and started walking down the sidewalk, heading home. I don't have a car, barely even have a house anymore. Maybe I should work on that.. seeing that if I didn't do chemo anymore, I'd have to sit and wither away somewhere, and either if I do chemo or not, I'm still going to have to walk everywhere, which will soon prove to be impossible._

_And the walk home was a lot harder than imagined today. I live in a rugged old part of Georgia, the only place I can afford, my house being basically mostly wooden and cabin-like. I've never been one to want anything more, this suits me, no matter how crappy it is. But, luckily I had my trash bin outside still, because when I walked up a sudden wave a nausea washed over me and I had to run to it, emptying out my stomach inside. _

_I hate throwing up. And I mean really hate it. _

_When I emptied everything out, I gagged and spit, leaning up and wiping my mouth with the sleeve of my sweater. My head was now throbbing even more, but when I started to hear loud screams coming from what sounded to be an infant, it got worse. Why? Why did there have to be a baby here now? When my head hurts like no other and I just found out I'll never be able to have one?_

_I pushed myself away from the trashcan and tried to straighten my posture as I walked to the door, really just wanting to finish my bottle of whiskey. _

_What have I even become? I'm letting myself rot away to nothing.. Alone and an alcoholic. Fun._

_"Acacia!" _

_I froze, the sound of that voice making my bones grow cold. It sounded so familiar... And that name? Where had I heard that name before? I slowly looked to the side to see if I was hallucinating or not, but when I did I saw a woman that looked fairly real. The woman looked dirty, old, sickly bony, hair all over, teeth yellow, bags under her eyes, red veins weaving around her pupils, and she reeked. I could tell from here that she was a drug addict, but something about her struck me deep down. "Ace," she snarled my name this time and the sound of it made my eyes widen. It was like things buried so deep down inside my brain just pushed through the surface, short flashes of all the days I was locked in a rat infested basement with only a can of food for weeks. All the yelling, all the screaming, and the way she said my name.._

_"You don't look so good," she eyed me up and down. "Whatever.. It's good to see you again," she smirked. She started backing up without another word, creepily smiling at me as she did, and I just watched her go, my mind boggling around. "Have fun with your sister," was the last thing she said before she started walking off off._

_I felt like I had been hit with a freight train, I know her. That was my mom. My birth mother. The one that was arrested when they found me in her basement as a child... She got out. How did she even find me? Why?_

_My head started to get dizzy and my feet wobbly, the only thing keeping me from passing out is that annoying sound of that infant screaming. Fuck! My eyes widened again and I took off in a run to my door, only a few feet away. The screaming was getting louder as I got closer, but I couldn't narrow it down as I stood on my front porch. I looked around frantically and then tried to listen carefully past my rapid heart beat. I jumped back off my porch and ran down the side of my rickety old house, slowing down when I got to the back. On the grass, loosely wrapped in what looked like a dirty hospital blanket, was a little baby. It was scream crying as it lied on it's back, right in front of my back door. _

_I was frozen just looking at the infant. My.. My sister? _

_Anger struck upon me. My mother. The one person who ruined me. The one person I''ve hated with everything in me, never to forgive. And I don't hate many people.. She was here and left me her child... My fists were clenching together so hard I'm sure I drew blood. I wanted to scream, to chase after her and shoot her dead. But, instead I slowly walked towards the baby. I crouched down and scooped it up off the ground, noticing immediately she was a girl._

_She was still screaming as I got her situated into my arms, the noise making my head spin as I marched back around to the front of my house. I looked for my mother, to see if she was in sight, to see if I could get to her and.. and.. what? What would I even do? Kill her? Give her back this baby? She probably damaged it already in the short time she had with it, and I'm surprised it doesn't have brain damage from all the drugs she was probably on.._

_My full body was now quivering with anger, pure hatred.. But, I soon felt something brush against my lower cheek. I looked down and saw the beautiful baby girl had stopped crying, sucking one thumb while the other hand was resting on my cheek. She looked up at me with big blue eyes, and instantly my heart melted. _

_I had no stable house, job, nor health. No experience and in no way am I ready for this.. But, I'm not putting this baby up for adoption, no way. This was my little sister, and at this moment, I fell in love with this baby. Maybe this was a gift?_

_I would take care of her through thick and thin. I would finish my chemo, get a better job, and do anything I needed to give her a good life.. _

_I smiled down at the baby, feeling my heart beat for the first time again with love._

_I fixed her blanket, which was dirty, but it was bright pink and written in sharpie on it was 'Frankie.'_

_********_(end of flashback)***

1...2...3...

Ace breathed in, trying her best to ignore the smell of decaying flesh and dead bodies. 1...2...3... She counted again, sounding out the panicked cries and words from others, a large amount of fear hovering over her. They were in the middle of the city, at the CDC's front door, that happened to be locked and shutters down. Biter bodies were almost on every inch of the ground around them, making not only her heart, but also her stomach hurt.

But, luckily from what Ace can tell, none of those bodies are little 4 year old girls.

"Walkers!" Daryl called out and Ace snapped her eyes open. She needs to focus. Daryl ran up and took one out with his crossbow, and since Ace was the only able one near him, she pulled out her knife and ran towards the other after getting a nod from Daryl. He wasn't going to have time to reload his crossbow. The sickening crunch of skull cracking and blood splattering rang clearly in her ears and she watched as the body fell. It was wearing an army suit..

She must have been staring at it for too long because a hand clasped around her arm and yanked her back more rough than necessary. Daryl shoved her back with a grunt.  
Daryl and Ace regained their spots back in the tight formation, only a moment after he was yelling again. "Less bullets we got!" His voice was raspy and full with anger. Anger being what most of these people portrayed when they were scared.

"He made a call!" Dale added to an angry Daryl.

"Well it's the WRONG DAMN CALL!" His voice was venomous and Ace watched as Shane came up, him yelling and shoving Daryl back. What that was doing for them, Ace doesn't know. But, they're all just freaking out. Shane moved and started pressing Rick, who's face was filled with guilt and fear, but also desperation. Lori was immediately on him as well, not trying to silent her panicking as she gripped onto Carl.

"Fort Benning.." Ace mumbled, still thinking that was their only and best option. Lori and Andrea immediately shot her down, but Shane heard her easily and agreed. "Rick, she's right.. Fort Benning, still an option," Shane, panting lightly pressed on, only to receive negative comments from scared group members. It was already getting darker by the moment, and they had next to no fuel... no food.

And then Ace watched, shock on her face as Rick started to yell and bang at the shutters. Ace didn't know what to do.. She went from standing tense and ready at Dale's side, or near Sophia and having her clutch onto her shirt, or to the outside of the group, next to Daryl's side, trying to work as a team on watching out for the oncoming threats. But, when Rick started going off about how the camera moved, she just watched.

As Shane argued with him and tried to get them all to leave, Ace's face paled. Frankie wasn't here. No ones here.

"YOU'RE KILLING US! PLEASE! YOU'RE KILLING US!" Rick yelled and banged more, causing more people to panic and for Shane to pull him away. The noise was only causing more biters to wander up and more fear to linger over the group.

Lori ran up to help drag Rick back so Ace moved to Carl's side, letting him grip onto her as she started pushing him away lightly, moving fast to the cars. Ace could feel the wetness of his tears on her, which only made her more determined to get him out of here.

A large and loud screeching made them all freeze, though. Those shutters had opened.

Ace frantically spun around, her eyes wide and searching the group, eventually catching Daryl's and watching as his face was lit up from the light escaping from the building. Oh my god the doors opened..

"Get the back!"

Carl ran from Ace's side to his mothers and Ace spun around, this time bringing up her gun and backing up slowly with Daryl at her side, the rest of the group already heading inside. And when Ace backed into the building, she slowly let her gun lower, Daryl and Dale closing the doors.

All was quiet besides Rick calling out, his voice bouncing off the walls of the large building. The sound of a gun cocking in the distance did make Ace tense and grip her gun, but she didn't turn around. She was afraid to. Afraid to find out if Frankie was here or not.. Not wanting to be let down after getting her hopes up.

Rick started talking to the man here, only one man, and trying to convince him to let them all in. Ace let her eyes close, straining her senses in her ears, trying so badly to hear Frankie's voice or soft, small footsteps. Please, let Frankie be here..

"You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission," the man said. Ace felt like the blood had been drained from her body. Not a needle.. Not another god damned blood test.. Ever since the years of chemo, she's developed almost a phobia of needles.. Which really sucks for someone who should be getting shots 24/7. "We can do that..." Rick agreed, but couldn't be more wrong. Ace could not do that.

Everybody started rushing outside to the cars to get their stuff before top side locked down, brushing past Ace and giving her odd looks when she didn't move. She felt like she might fall over if she did take a step, just thinking about the needles and the fact that Frankie is most likely not here was making her dizzy. "Here," Shane's voice wasn't harsh anymore to her when he came back, handing her her back pack. She slowly looked up and took the bag from him, giving a thankful nod as she did. He returned her nod, "you alright?" he gave her a pressing look and she hesitated. But after a moment nodded her head vigorously. She didn't need to be weak in front of all these people. "Vi, seal the main entrance," the doctor called out. Vi? So there is someone else here? That means Frankie could be here...

She finally turned around and lagged behind everyone as they started following the Doctor who introduced himself as Jenner. She searched every nook and cranny she walked past with her eyes, trying so desperately to see Frankie. But, when they were led into an elevator, she let her head hang low. She even felt her lungs feel like they were growing tighter as they went underground, where the needles were, and possibly no Frankie.. But, she didn't say anything about it as usual, just followed behind everyone as the exited the elevator, the silent observer.

They were lead into a huge room, filled with computers and electronic devices, but no people. The doctor again called to that Vi person to turn on the lights, which she did, but she was no where to be seen. Rick noticed the same thing. "Where is everybody? The other doctors? The staff?" Frankie?

"I'm it."

It turns out Vi is just another computer.

Ace didn't move forward anymore, letting space become bigger between her and the rest of the group. He's it. This doctor is it.. No Frankie, no other researchers, no survivors... no hope. Just him.

Ace kept her posture strong in front of these people, but yet again the color was draining from her face when they were now led into a small room to get their blood drawn. Ace looked around, trying to see if she could make a run for it, but like the doctor said, everything was locked down..

They all shuffled into this room and Jenner sat at a small table, allowing everybody to come up one by one. Ace stayed by a wall in the back, trying to press so far into the corner that she'd disappear. She was trying to give her self positive, encouraging thoughts. _You can do this. You've done it a thousand times before. It's just one needle.._

But, as soon as she thought of a needle, she had to gulp to remain strong. She couldn't even count to three to control herself.. She was living in the zombie apocalypse and she was the most afraid of a needle? Coming from a man who was trying to help them?

Eventually everyone went, leaving Ace to go. They were all still in the room, all still looking at her. She stood there for a while, eyes widened and body in a panic. She wanted to scream. But after the awkwardness grew to a maximum in the room, she shakily made her way over to the doctor. She sat down slowly and lifted her arm up, setting it on the table. "Please," she whispered, voice cracking so only the doctor could hear, but he still rolled up her sleeve. He froze when he got it up to her elbow, seeing all the old needle puncture wounds and small holes that got infected or bruised from her last treatment. I'm sure it could look a lot like she was a heroin addict.

Jenner cleared his throat and looked up to the rest of the group. "There is a dining room down the hall," he started. "You all may head there and help yourself to whatever," people all looked at each other when they heard dining, which meant food. "Except you," he looked sternly to Ace. Luckily not everyone noticed and had already started leaving the room, but not Daryl, Shane, or Rick. They slowed their walk, eyeing Ace. Two just wanted to protect the group and know whats going on, but one just wanted to know what was up.

Ace even wanted to know what was up, and when they all left, she turned to look at Jenner. "Now.. you don't look like a heroin addict," Jenner stated, looking down at her arm and letting his fingers run over her old wounds. "M'not," Ace mumbled. "Chemotherapy gone wrong."

"Cancer," he nodded to himself.

"Schwannoma neurofibrosarcoma," Ace informed him. It was a mouthful, but really all it meant was multiple tumors in her spine. When she found out she had cancer, she studied it a lot, trying to really figure it out. But, all that stuck with her was that it was a big pain in the ass with no cure, the name of her type, and that her survival rate is 50/50. "I needed a lot of chemo and a risky surgery to get rid of it.. But, uh..-"

"It's back," he finished for her, already knowing where she was going. She looked down and nodded, and to her luck, he let go of her arm and rolled her sleeve back down. "After you get some food and a shower, meet me down in the computer room," he told her then stood up, offering a hand. She accepted and followed him out. Wait. Did he say shower?

By the time they reached the dining room, laughter could be hear up-roaring from inside. But, the only ones who noticed Ace and Jenner come in where Shane and Daryl, yet again eyeing her. Ace went to a counter separate from the groups dining tables, sitting up on a stool after she grabbed a plate of food. She was listening as they laughed and joked together, enjoying themselves. She was an outsider here, not even a part of this group.

She did look up when more laughter came roaring out, noticing that they had tried to get Carl to drink some wine and he hated it. It made a small smile play at her lips, seeing his disgusted face, but when she looked up, her smile faltered. Daryl was leaning against a table behind them, gun loosely sticking out from the front of his pants, strong arms supporting him, and a bottle of wine teasing near his lips. Ace was taking in his appearance for a while, but had to think hard on how to swallow her food as she looked back down. What the hell? She never was one to overly be attracted to anybody, most people just annoying her to no end. She always saw their personalities first, that being her main concern and most of them not being approved, but she just noticed how attractive Daryl was.. He must have been approved somewhere along the lines of "stupid bitch" or "what? don't tell me ya can't handle your drinks, princess.."

"Stick to soda pop there, bud," Shane said to Carl who was giggling.

"Not you Glenn," Daryl cut in. "Keep drinkin little man, I wana see how red your face can get," Daryl teased, as he got up. He was definitely more social and not as big of a grump when drunk and fed. He walked over to the cupboards that happened to be behind Ace, so she just focused on the plate of food in front of her, savoring every bite while she felt Daryl's eyes burning into her back.

He set down his bottle of wine and switched it for a bottle of southern comfort he just found, but noticed Ace had none. "Thought ya said ya could handle your drinks, _Princess_," he teased so only she could hear, remembering last night. Ace rolled her eyes. "I can," she stated quietly. "Jus' don't want any."

"T'hell ya talkin about? Drink up," he slid her over his bottle of wine and Ace eyed it. Sure, she had a drink with him last night, but that was small, controlled. If she got drunk now, having this what seemed to be unlimited supply of alcohol, she would get bad again. She didn't want to relieve all those horrid nights and hungover mornings, but seeing and smelling that bottle in front of her was driving her wild.

Just one, small drink..

Ace grabbed the wine and brought it to her lips, taking a satisfying drink. It wasn't as strong as whiskey, but that's fine. She doesn't need any of that. Daryl smirked at her and then over heard Rick giving Jenner cheers and added a "boo-yah!" which made Ace smile lightly. At least these people could make her feel the tinniest bit better after finding out her sister wasn't here.

It wasn't until Shane asked what happened to everyone here at the CDC that all the smiles faded. But, Ace was glad someone brought it up and listened intently. Turns out everyone either ran or killed themselves..

"Mommy, I won again!" Sophia laughed as she placed her last set of cards down. Ace smiled lightly as her and Carl high-fived each other. Sophia came down to the room Ace was given here in the CDC and asked if she wanted to play some games with her and Carl. Ace was just about to get into her shower, but she could not say no to that innocent face.

They had already played multiple of the board games here, and then their favorite, go fish. "You're very good. Much better than me," Ace said lowly to both Sophia and Carl, making them smile.

"Hey Sophia, sweetie, I think we should give Ace a break, let her go take her shower," Carol said, looking up from the book she was reading. Carl and Sophia pouted, which made Ace smile, and she was about to say it was fine, but Carol spoke up again. "Anyways, I think it's time for bed soon, huh? Might be able to finally get some sleep, it's a miracle," Carol sat up and Ace gave her a nod before heading out of the rec room after saying goodnight to the kids. She really was looking forward to that shower.

Luckily, there was no mirror in the bathroom attached to her room, she didn't want to see how awful she looked. She could feel it. She could feel her knotty rats nest for hair, her dirty, bruised, and sickly body, the tiredness in her eyes, and the hunch she always had in her back.

She nearly had to peal herself out of her clothes before stepping in the stream of amazingly hot water, making her senses tingle.

Ace made her shower quick, not wanting to use too much of the limited water, but also gave herself enough time to enjoy it and wash off completely. And when she stepped out, completely refreshed, she savored the feeling.

There was a towel and a brush inside the cabinets under the sink, so Ace gladly used them. Once dried off, she grabbed the brush and started dragging it through her hair until it was smooth again. Her hair never was the same after she lost it all from the chemo. It grew back more thin and straight, the color not as prominent either. Most of the time she just tied it back with her bandana or something, but for now she let it hang as she went back out into her room. She pulled out the drawers of her dressers, and smiled when she saw there was a bunch of clean clothes in here, for both men and woman. They were all plain and boring, but thank god she finally found some clean undergarments.

She put on a fresh pair, which surprisingly fit, and then packed the rest in her bag. She shrugged and put on a pair of mens underwear over them, and buttoned up her old flannel shirt back on before spotting the bottle of wine she left in here. She put on a pair of clean socks she found and smiled momentarily, she was so comfortable.

Ace then sighed, walking over to grab the bottle and head out the door. She had a feeling she'd need it for this talk with Jenner... She found her way down to the computer room he showed the group earlier and stopped at the doorway, looking around for someone, only barely spotting Jenner sitting at a computer. "Ace," he acknowledged her, hearing her footsteps. He spun around in his wheely chair and Ace came over, leaning against one of the computers while taking a drink of the wine.

"Please sit," he brought over a chair and Ace hesitated, but sat down, noticing all the papers scattered in front of him. "On a side note from your cancer, I noticed your Heterochromia," he got right to the point.

"What?"

"Heterochromia Iridis.. Your eyes, they are two different colors," he explained, Ace not knowing it had a name. "I thought it was just a birth mutation.." she mumbled.

"In ways yes, it is, but those two colors.." he trailed off, searching her eyes, making her grow a little uncomfortable. He cleared his throat. "I'd say it is more of a disease, then genetics.. Mutation could be a possible term."

"You think it's related?" She mumbled. "..To the cancer?"

"No. I believe it's something else," he seemed to be deep in thought. "It's harmless, nothing to worry about until you're sixty and losing eye sight," he said that so easily, mostly because they both know it would be rare for anyone to live that long, but Ace was still taken aback. "But, anyways, are you sure your cancer is back?"

Ace nodded without hesitation. She could feel it, not only the pain, but the way it made her feel like she was withering away.. It's hard for someone to forget the feeling. Ace took another long drink.

Jenner looked as if he was about to say something, but then glanced upwards, shutting his mouth when he did. Ace followed his line of sight, seeing a big digital clock, counting down to something. She wondered what that was about and why it made him change his mind.. "Get some sleep tonight, I'll look into it."

Ace looked back at him, "thank you." She stood up, letting him get back to whatever he was doing with a bunch of papers in front of him. Ace started walking back, letting her socks slide a little bit, but then stopped, remembering something. "You.. You haven't had any little kids around here?"

"No. I'm sorry," he looked up at her for a moment. Ace nodded, trying to give him a thankful smile, but she quickly turned around, letting her mouth fall agape in sadness. In pain.

She stumbled back to her room, passing by Rick, but not giving him a glance as she downed more of the wine. She wished she had some whiskey now.

And when she got into her room, she just stood there, looking around. She spotted her big, empty bed in the middle of the room. Ace slowly walked over, letting the hand holding the wine bottle dangle down loosely as she looked at it. She let her eyes get lost in the plain white of it. They were here, in the CDC. They were safe, fed, and given the small luxuries they were missing out on, but Ace's heart was broken. Another place her little sister wasn't. Frankie was out there alone, possibly dead or worse, having suffered in fear and pain either way. And the thought of that tore at Ace completely. Frankie should be the one here in safety, not her. She was dying anyways.

Ace took a big breath in, only to have it come back out as a choked sob. She quickly took shaky breaths in to quiet it and brought the bottle up to her mouth, pouring the red liquid down her throat as silent tears rolled down her face..

**Okay guys, so second flashback showing Ace's life! Sorry again if that first person point of view switch throws you off, I just thought that for flashback/dreams I should do it in first person, idk. I was thinking about switching it back to 3rd, but i'm too lazy hehehe:)**

**Thank all you guys for the reviews! I love you! Keep letting me know what you think!3**


	7. Chapter 7

Ace woke up with a jerk, still lying on her face, bottle of wine spilt onto the floor.

She took a disoriented moment to look around, remembering where she was and what happened before she sat up, rubbing her wet eyes. It doesn't matter how many times she'll have dreams about Frankie, or what happened in Germany, or just the zombie apocalypse in general.. every time she will wake up in tears, willingly or not. Sometimes it was just that her dreams and reality have started to blend together now, that being the worst part.

She wished the zombie apocalypse was all just a dream, but each time she wakes up, it's like a whole new punch in the face. Her hangover is definitely a punch in the face as well. Both physically and mentally. Ace promised herself she would try as hard as she can to not get lost in alcohol ever again. She even swore it off when she united with Frankie. And she was so disappointed that she let herself get bad again, even if it was only wine, even if it was only one night. She failed herself.

But Ace also wants to give herself a free pass. Frankie is missing and it's the apocalypse. She should be aloud to drink right? She should be able to break her personal goals and moral reasoning? She should be able to throw herself away? Right?

It is wrong to Ace. Frankie would be disappointed in her.

Ace sighed and pushed herself off the bed slowly, grabbing the spilt wine bottle as she did and setting it up right. Should she clean the mess? She didn't know if they were going to be here long or if it really mattered to Jenner... Ace took a minute staring at it while she decided, and gave in. If they were staying here longer than today she didn't want it there, a reminder of her failure. Even when she drank with Daryl the other night she limited herself.

Ace rubbed her temple and straightened up her clothing quickly, making herself presentable, even if no one was up. She looked through the cabinets in the bathroom and saw that there was no cleaning supplies, so she decided to try the kitchen or any other room she came across.

She put her shoes back on and fluffed her hands around in the comforter of her bed searching for her knife that fell out. How safe.. being too drunk to realize she was sleeping with a goddamned knife.

Ace shook her head at her self and left her room, quieting her steps as she walked down the hall. The floor was pretty dark, no lights really on in the rooms, so she guessed she was up extremely early as usual.

Arriving in the kitchen, she didn't hesitate to start searching through cupboards, top and bottom ones. She did end up finding an apple in the mess of supplies in here, so she shrugged and took a large bite out of it. She felt a little bad after greedily doing that and enjoying it so very much.. Was it selfish?

She shrugged again, it was only one apple and no one has to know..

Ace took some more delicious bites and she continued her search. She did happen to find a blue sponge under the sink, so some cleaner had to be nearby.

"Lookin for somethin'?" A raspy voice slurred out of no where, making Ace jump and spin around quickly, whacking her head on the counter top as she did. She bit her lip to hold back her groan of angry pain, but still was yelling at Daryl inside her head. "Watch out, there's a counter there, _Princess_."

"Fucking asshole," Ace mumbled under her breath, turning back towards the cabinet under the sink she was at. Okay, she was a little cranky after having a really shitty night. "Heard tha'," Daryl shuffled so he was leaning against the counter near by, studying her. Normally if someone called him an asshole he would have pounced, but lucky for Ace, he was cool. Maybe it's because he's drunk? He really has only had an actual conversation with her when he is. "Really, what'cha lookin for?"

"Nothin'," Ace mumbled, grabbing the cleaner she found with great timing and stood up. She kicked the doors closed and gave Daryl a nod before starting to walk back to her room. "What's up yer' ass? Didn't get ya beauty sleep, _Princess_?"

Ace rolled her eyes. Why does he keep calling her Princess? Is that his type of fun nick name? "Guess I'm not no Princess then, am I?" She grumbled, looking back at Daryl quickly. He grunted, but a smirk was playing at his lips, putting together her Sleeping Beauty joke.

She started to walk away again, ready to get to that wine stain, but what he said next made her freeze. "Ya thought yer' sister was gona be here, didn't ya?" Daryl wasn't sure why he was striking up another conversation. He was always know as the angry, quiet hunter of the group. But, here he was. And here Ace was, getting along with somebody? Even if he was still really drunk and probably wouldn't remember.

She clenched her fist around her thumb a little, watching as her hands contracted, not responding. It seemed that Daryl already knew the answer of that question before he even asked it. "Kinda hoped my brother was gona be here, too," he shrugged, taking another drink of his Southern Comfort. Ace felt a twinge of pity for Daryl, mostly because she knew how he felt.. She knew he was using that bottle of Southern Comfort for actual comfort.

Ace turned around to look at Daryl, not really knowing what to say. She knew nearly exactly how he felt, but no way to express herself. So they both just looked at each other. Ace took in Daryl's appearance; the same sleeveless button up shirt that was sloppily tucked into his pants that had holes at the knees. His dirty blonde hair that was all messy from not being brushed after his shower that it looked like he took a little while ago. Had he even gone to bed yet?

When both Daryl and Ace realized they were staring at each other for too long, they shyly looked down. "You sleep yet?" She asked quietly, squinting her eyes at him.

"Ain't gona sleep in this pricks bed," he drunkenly slurred, pointing his hand in the direction he assumed Jenner was. This confused Ace. It wasn't necessarily Jenner's bed, it was warm, safe, and probably the best thing they're gona get for a while.

"He's a prick?" Ace retorted. Daryl was the one who sounded a little rude right now. But really he never was a person to take help from others, especially if he can't pay them back. He already ate this guys food and drank his booze, that's enough for a while. He could live with one more night of sulking and self pitying.

"Yeah, he's a prick," Daryl snapped, pushing off the counter to point a finger in her face, but instead stumbling. Ace lunged forward and reached her hand out to steady him, a natural reflex. And when he got steady he shoved her hand away. "Don't need no help," he growled rudely. He reminded her of Merle.

Ace clenched her jaw and retracted her hand, standing very still and quiet. "Wha' ya just gona stare at me all night?" He snapped, giving Ace a look and then pushing past her a little. She let her body turn in the way it was lightly shoved when he hit it, watching him stumble out of the kitchen. He was about to make it into the hallway when he tripped over his own feet and had to grab onto the frame of the doorway as he nearly fell. He did happen to catch himself, but let his body slide down the small frame anyways, landing on his butt with a light thud. He ran his hand that wasn't holding the whiskey over his face and it made Ace sad to see him like this. She doesn't care that she just met him a few days ago or even that he's a dick.. She's been were he is, possibly even still is right now, and knows his struggle and pain. She can feel the pain he's feeling. He's trying to keep himself strong to not show his weak side to the group, just as Ace has many times..

She walked over slowly after setting the cleaning supplies down and cautiously to him, waiting for him to yell at her again, but he seemed too exhausted and drained to do so. "Don't.. I don't need ya pity," he scoffed to himself, he gave himself enough pity, he doesn't need anymore. He took another drink while Ace still came over. "Get!" He finally raised his voice, barely enough to startle Ace when she got closer.

"M'not goin anywhere," Ace wasn't nearly as harsh.

"Wha'? Ya don't got anythin' better to do than be annoyin? I don't even know ya," He shifted on his butt, words slurred together, trying not to show he was surprised that she was saying more than two words to him.

Ace rolled her eyes, saying a bunch of profanities at him inside her head. It was true, they didn't really know each other, but they felt more comfortable with the other then the rest of the who messed up group. Ace felt she could relate to him and that made her more comfortable, even if she would rather be near the nice kids all day..  
She had thought Daryl was supposed to be nicer when he was drunk..  
Ace sighed anyways and squatted down holding her hand out to him. He eyed it then her and scoffed again, "I thought I told ya-"

"Shut up." She wasn't trying to be mean, well, maybe she was.. But this was the only way to get him to stop his bitchin.

Daryl was taken aback at her interruption. "T'hell did ya-"

"Shut up," Ace repeated. "C'mon," she said much quieter, signaling her hand out again. Daryl eyed her hesitantly, but decided he had no choice but to let her help him up. His rough, calloused hand clasped with hers and they both grunted lightly as they shifted to stand up, Ace letting Daryl lean his drunken weight on her.

She let one of her hands rest on his strong back as the other was placed on the wall for balance as they made their way down the hall. Daryl's body was swaying as he pointed to the room he chose, still having the bottle of whiskey in his hand, hating that he needed help to get there.

Ace opened his door as quietly as she could and basically had to shove him onto his bed. He huffed and got himself comfortable, not bothering to take his shoes off or anything, bringing the bottle back up to his lips. Before he could take another drink, Ace made a quick move and snatched it straight from his hands. "Fuckin' hell!" Daryl growled, sitting up and trying to grab it from Ace, who held it back. She knew from experience that he would only regret drinking more in the morning.

"Don't touch my stuff!"

"Ain't yours."

Daryl crossed his arms, leaning back on the headboard of his bed. "_Stupid bitch."_

"You'll thank me in the mornin'," Ace said, starting to walk towards his door again.

"It is mornin and I sure as hell ain't damn thankful," he grumbled, shifting on his bed. She was just looking out for him, even if she didn't know exactly why.  
He said a few more harsh things that Ace could barely make out, but she ignored it, leaving his room before either of them grew uncomfortable or awkward from the excessive amount of socializing they've had today.

Many things were being turned around in her mind as Ace quickly went back into the kitchen to grab the cleaning supplies and set the alcohol down. Well, she nearly slammed it down after studying it for a minute. She had a million temptations to get shitfaced again, but she was trying to be strong enough to hold out.

She did feel a little bit of self pride as she went down to her room, though, making her stand up a little taller when she walked. Her confidence was low now aday's and she had every reason in the world to lose herself with alcohol even more than last night, but she didn't.

Her confidence and self pride did happen to fall a little when she scrubbed and scrubbed at the wine stain, not getting anywhere. She has dealt with many alcohol stains before, but with only some shitty cleaner and a sponge, she wasn't too satisfied.

Ace huffed and sat back on her feet, swatting her hair away. Her back was aching a lot more than usual from bending over and she was growing angry with the damn stain. She mumbled a few words under her breath and stood up lightly throwing the sponge onto the small bedside table.

Now what?

Wait... was she actually bored right now?

Rolling her eyes, she went back out of her room and into the rec room, spending the next hour or so looking through nearly all the books on the many shelves.

Daryl woke up with a lazy grunt, scowl on his face. He felt hungover and exhausted from lack of sleep. But, he knew how to fix that.

He reached his arm up, blindly searching the bedside table for the bottle of Southern Comfort he was sure he left there last night. When he couldn't feel anything, but the cool surface of the table, he turned to face it and sat up a little. Nothing was there. Not anywhere in this room.

And that's when he remembered he didn't fall asleep til much later last night. He got drunk and angry, as usual, but remembers talking to Ace, who took his whiskey. He initially felt anger at her for taking it, having no right, but tried to ignore the fact he was a little thankful. If she hadn't taken it he would be feeling a lot worse than he is, probably sick as hell. He did not need to be completely wasted again. He hated being like his father in that way, always clutching a bottle of strong booze.

Daryl swung his legs over the edge of the bed, wobbling slightly at the dizziness his head provided him. He pressed his palm to his temple with an annoyed grunt and stood up, not bothering to change since he was still fully dressed in what he put on after his shower last night. He had no idea where anyone was, rooms being open and empty, but heard chatter down the hall.

He peaked his head in first, but came in fully when he saw everyone, minus a few people, starting to eat breakfast. He scanned the room, eyes hesitating on Ace who was sitting much farther away from the rest of the group. She had a pile of books next to her, one she was reading currently while eating some scrambled eggs.

Daryl's stomach growled and his feet shuffling caught peoples attention. Everyone grumbled a good morning to him, but everyone was too hungover to give a real crap. So he just grunted and went over to the food T-dog made, helping himself to a plate. While doing so he eyed Ace out of the corner of his eyes, noticing she was reading a random book about mutations and had a stack of similar ones, plus one that looked to be a Mystery novel.

He wanted to laugh at this girl, who was really an odd one when he broke it down, but instead he had to snap himself out of his stare that he had and go sit at the other table with the rest of the group. Daryl had the angry scowl back on his face. At one moment he could be thinking about how interesting she was and in another he was angry 'cause that stupid girl was making him a softy. What the hell did she even do? She thought they were similar or somethin. He doesn't even know her and is spending more time curiously wondering about her than thinking and fighting for himself... He's surviving for himself and himself only now, doesn't need to give a shit about anyone else. Though she did give a shit about him last night and help him out, even if he didn't want it at the time. No one had really ever given a shit..

Ace was buried in her book at the time, the noises and chatter from the others fuzzy in her ears. She was absorbed in the text that talked about cancer, and even similar eye diseases as hers, and if someone were to look at her, it would be easy to tell she was in another world. She did know exactly when to start paying attention again, though, and that was when Jenner walked in. He made eye contact with her, seeming to have words he wanted to speak to her, but just turned in the direction of the coffee.

Dale had read Ace's mind and started questioning Jenner, as well as Andrea. Ace listened intently while now scanning the room, taking it all in like everything and everyone were calculations in her head. It's like each expression of a person here was a piece of the puzzle she needed to figure out this group. But the problem was, as far as she could tell with her own opinion, this group was broken... A few of their puzzle pieces are missing.

Ace rolled her eyes and put her full attention back onto Jenner after she watched Shane and Lori. They could not be more obvious about their 'situation'. Ace wants to know how clueless Rick has to be not to notice..

"We didn't come here for the eggs," Andrea snarked to Jenner, and Ace couldn't have said it better.

Jenner sighed and set down his coffee, "follow me."

He led them all to the same large computer room they were in last night. Ace was able to get a better layout of it now that it was brightened. "Playback of test subject 19," Jenner spoke aloud, Vi responding shortly after, lighting up a screen in front of the group.

Ace was the last to join them, taking a spot in the back, as usual. No one really noticed her presence, she even doubts if they would notice if she had a loaded gun on them right now, somehow planning to kill them all.. Of course she wasn't, but still..

"Few people ever got a chance to see this... Very few," Jenner reminded them and Ace squinted at the images on the screen. There was a lot of scientific stuff that Ace didn't even want to try and figure out, but the main images were just what looked to be some x-ray scans of a persons head. The picture enhanced for an internal view, showing off a very detailed brain. Carl, being the curious kid he is, was the first to asked questions.

In normality, Ace would have smiled at him, but she was to amazed by the moving image of a brain above her. There were lights streaming throughout it, some of different colors, and the details of it were keeping Ace's eyes locked. "It's a person's light, experiences, memories.. It's everything," Jenner started and Ace's eyes were darting from him, back to the screen quickly. "Somewhere in all those orbitals of light.. Is you.. The thing that makes you unique.. human."

This was amazing Ace to a whole new level, so much so that she was unaware of her expression that truly had amused Daryl. But Daryl also wasn't understanding any of this or why it could be so amazing. "You don't make sense.. ever?" He said, crossing his arms, scowling at the screen.

"Those are synapses: electric impulses in the brain that deliver all the messages. They determine everything a person says, does, or thinks, from the moment of birth to the moment of death," Jenner smiled lightly after catching Ace's expression, he enjoyed others who were as interested in the things he loved as much as his wife had been..

"Death? That's what this is.. a vigil?" Rick stepped forward and Ace could have slapped him for interrupting Jenner. She wanted to know more.

"Yes. Or rather the playback of the vigil."

"This person died.. Who?" Andrea spoke in. And now that everyone was adding in, Ace decided to turn her attention back to them. She studied everyone again, reading all their expressions, and even figuring them out without them even knowing.

And the way Jenner spoke, or avoided telling, about the person in the "vigil", Ace could tell it was someone dear to him. "Scan forward to first event," Jenner stopped others from continuing questions. Ace watched again, this time the colorful brain turning dark. Jenner spouted a bunch of science crap, trying to explain it, but Ace didn't care. It didn't make sense and the test subject before her had her attention. She was watching it die, the monitor becoming darker than it was when it was alive. "Then death," Jenner said solemnly. "Everything you ever we're or ever will be. Gone."

The way Jenner said it could make anyone sad, or feel pain. Even if they haven't watched someone die through a biter bite, like Ace. But that doesn't mean they haven't lost someone another way..

It was even more heart wrenching to see Andrea's pain. Ace had learned the name of her sister, Amy, who had died the night she found their camp. Ace had a sister. She couldn't imagine..

The monitor that was dark started lightening up again, bringing Ace's attention back. Jenner started explaining about the Resurrection again, completely losing Ace as he did. The brain, or brain stem, had restarted.. It didn't make any sense. Why or how could this happen? It shouldn't even be possible.

Ace had considered that maybe they hadn't died in the first place, but no, that didn't make sense either. She just watched this test subject die, then come to life. It was just hard to process.

Ace bowed her head when a large slash went through the brain on the screen, getting shot. This was a ton on her mind along with everything else at the moment and she just was trying to sort through her messy thoughts. She didn't even want to listen anymore as a conversation went on about no one knowing what this 'virus' was. No one had even survived to study it more, either.

There's no one left.

Ace felt like there was a freight train going around on full speed inside of her head. She had a tendency to over think or over worry so much that she could make herself sick. Even as a child she did this. But normally she would just calm herself down with some drinks. "Man, imma' get shitfaced drunk, again," Daryl said, pacing as he rubbed his face. Ace guesses he felt the same.

But Ace wasn't going to let herself do that.

**[A/N]: Sorry for the short chapter that cuts off halfway through the episode! I just wanted to get something up sense it has been a while.. Which that I am EXTREMELY sorry for! I didn't plan to be gone at all like that, but holy crap school and sports crashed down hard! This is the first time I've actually been on my computer for more than 30 minutes in a while!**

**I have big plans for this story and am going to work on the next chapter now, as well as my Norman story! I love all of you and I reALly hope you enjoy!**


	8. Chapter 8

"Dr. Jenner, I know that this has been taxing for you, and I'd hate to ask one more question, but that clock.." Dale pointed to the same large clock that Ace saw Jenner take many glances at last night. "It's counting down.. What happens at zero?"

This is a question Ace too was very curious about, but didn't feel the need to ask last night. And now she was just reminded of it by Dale. "The.. basement generators, they run out of fuel," Jenner spit out, too fast and suspicious for anyone's liking, then turned and left the room immediately. No one really got their answer, so they turned to the next best thing.

"Vi, what happens when the power runs out?" Rick asked into space.

"When the power runs out, facility wide decontamination will occur," the monotone voice stated. Ace was up and alert as soon as she hear the last few words. With her experience through her Marine's base and training, she knew exactly what that meant. And she was surprised to find that no one else did.

"Shane, T-Dog, Glenn," Rick walked over to them. "The basement, it's got to be where the fuel and generators are kept. You guys come with me, the rest of you go back to your rooms, wait."

Ace frantically ran over to them, "No," she got their attention, causing them to turn back to face her. "We have to go," she breathed out, looking to everyone's face. "Decontamination, that's-"

"How...How do we know we can listen to her? We can't trust her," a voice interrupted frantically, Ace looking to her side to see that it was Carol. Ace understood that she was scared, but still swore at her many times inside of her head before turning back to Rick. "We have to pack our bags," she breathed, ignoring Carol. She didn't talk much, so these people should know that when she does, they better listen. Ace doesn't even know why they're still doubting her. "T-The building, it's-it's going-"

"Relax. Relax." Rick cut her off, putting his hands out as he took a step forward. Ace shook her head, trying to explain to him that the building was going to blow, but no one would listen. "Just stay here. We're gona go check it out," was the last thing Rick said before him and the rest of the guys they called ran off out of the room. Ace not being able to stop them.

Ace ran her hands over her face with a frantic sigh, looking around at the group. They all ignored her, pretending like she wasn't there. "Come on Carl, lets head back to the room," Lori reached out for Carl, acting as if all was normal.

"Fuck," Ace growled. Ace didn't know what to do. These people wouldn't listen to her! She looked around, trying to catch anyone's eyes, Daryl's being the only ones who would give her a chance. Ace shot him a desperate look, but he just looked back totally confused.

Ace turned and started running out the same door Rick did, back to her room, skidding to a stop while she held onto the door frame, nearly running past it. She immediately went inside and started grabbing her backpack, it still being packed, even with some more clothes she put in there earlier. She always liked to have her bag ready, you never know when you've got to get up and run. Like now.

She threw her bag over her shoulders and tried to decided what she would do next. And before she knew it, she was off in a run again, breathing heavily as she rounded the corner of the hallway. She spotted the office with glass windows that she had walked by multiple times the past night when coming up the stairs, but this time saw Jenner inside.

Ace didn't even knock, just barged through, panting as she went over to him. He wasn't facing her, sitting in a chair, but he sensed her presence. "How do you know?" Jenner asked, a little too calmly to sit right with Ace.

She knew what he was asking. "..In the event of a catastrophic power failure, or a terrorist attack, HIT's are deployed," Ace grumbled, repeating what her drill sergeant once said during training.

He turned around to look at her with curiosity, but then sighed, leaning back on his swivel chair. "We gotta go," Ace repeated, noticing he was too chill.

He looked at her for a moment, studying her frantic face and her oddly beautiful eyes. "...Why?"

Ace didn't say anything, but had confusion and fear on her face.

"Why?" Jenner repeated, sitting up again. "One millisecond, no pain.. No more suffering, guilt, grief... Why go? Especially you should understand," He pointed to her. "Your cancer..." he stood up, going to his desk and picking up a folder, barely scanning through what's inside. "I did some research last night, tested your blood, too... The results were," he shook his head. "Insane."

"Either way.." Jenner continued, getting back on track. "Either way your cancer is going to destroy you.. No medicine, no chemo.. It's only a matter of time."

Ace was just watching him with wide eyes, shaking her head as he talked. "Frankie.." she breathed weakly. "I have a sister.. I have to find her.."

"I'm sorry. But really..what are the chances in this god awful world that you'll find her? Alive at least?"

Ace was taken aback, "I'll find her.." She mumbled, sounding so vulnerable that her voice nearly cracked. She was more of trying to convince herself that now after being shot down again.

"Do you not understand?" Jenner took a step towards Ace, who was just barely standing there. "This is what takes us down.. This is our extinction of end."

Ace didn't say anything, couldn't as she looked at Jenner with wide eyes. The point he had was so very clear, especially with her. But she can't just.. just give up. Not on Frankie. Not even on herself. She believes that she has a purpose, that there is someone, something out there.. What happens when this settles down or there is some civilization restarting again?.. She needs a chance. "How is this even an option for you?" Jenner asked. "How do you think you can survive this?"

Ace's whole body was shaking as she let Jenner go on.

"You have cancer during the end of the world. That makes it terminal cancer!" He shouted. "There is no medicine, no doctors anymore! The chances.." He trailed off for a moment. "You've gone through it before.. You know what it feels like. You're going to wither away! And if you do find your sister, all it's going to be is another painful goodbye."

"I can.. I can find medicine," she gulped, body quivering, slowly draining of hope.

Jenner sighed. "I don't know what else to say to make you see the rational thing to do here!"

"I'll go down fighting.." Ace breathed, trying to keep her voice strong.

Jenner took a moment to regain his calmness, then nodded, turning back to his desk, grabbing the file he was looking at before. "I thought that.. maybe.. maybe if I could convince you.. If this was something you wanted.." he looked down at the folder as Ace grew more and more confused. "It had to be your choice weather or not you wanted to try.. To fight," he looked to her only for a moment, but his eyes held seriousness "..You need to get out."

"What?" Ace's head was boggling. He just spent all that time trying to convince her to stay, but now he's doing the opposite? Why was her choice such a big deal? "Topsides locked down. If you can get out.. Run. Go. Find somewhere safe. And take this," he shoved the file over to her, Ace hesitantly taking it.

"There's a list of medicine's in there that you might be able to scavenge," Jenner pointed to the file in Ace's hands, but then remembered something. "If you ever are near a hospital, don't hesitate to go in. They might have what you need for chemo if you ever find a safe place to settle down and do it at, understand?" Jenner walked to his desk, opened the drawer, and grabbed something, all by the time he came back to Ace. She looked down what was in his hand curiously, seeing many pill bottles. "Take one of each everyday if you get out. They will help, but eventually, you'll need that medicine from the hospital."

"W-What? Why?.. How?" Ace didn't know which one of the questions in her head to ask, looking down out the glass windows that over looked the computer room, the group still not back. The clock nearly at the half hour mark.

"Don't worry about your group. Just try to get out," Jenner looked down at her while handing her the pill bottles. "..You're the key," was the last thing he mumbled before pushing past Ace and hurriedly going down the hallway. Ace was confused as all hell and stunned. She didn't know what the hell was going on and was trying not to grow frantic again, but that has been proven to be very hard.

She quickly went over to his desk and took her backpack off, setting it down on the table so she could dump all the pill bottles he gave her inside. She was about to put the file in, but stopped herself. Surely a quick look wont waste too much time..

Ace saw the list Jenner had talked about inside, along with a bunch of other printed out papers that had a ton of numbers and science shit that she could not read. But it was all about some test subject.. TS-20. There was a few other papers of information about her cancer and eye mutation. But at the bottom of one was a note scribbled out in pen:

_TS-20 was tested along with the rest of the subjects, but TS-20's results came up different than the rest.  
After combining the sample with the freshest samples of the last reincarnated subject, more information came to knowledge.  
TS-20 came back positive._

Ace had no idea what that meant or who TS-20 was, her head still running around trying to make sense of things. But it was the loud sirens going off, echoing around the building, that made her look out the glass windows, seeing everyone was back, surrounding Jenner in the large room. "30 minutes until decontamination occurs," Vi, the monotone voice rang out.

Ace watched in fear as everyone was down there, trying to talk to Jenner who was just ignoring them. He should be helping them! Why his he not helping them?

Ace stuffed the file into her backpack, barely giving herself time to zip it back up before she was sprinting out of the office and down the stairs to the computer room. Her heart was going to poud out of her chest, her head exploding at the same time. The constant ringing of the loud alarm only added to her frantic-ness and adrenaline.

When she turned the corner to where the doorway of the large computer room was, she could hear every ones yells and their commotion. Daryl and Rick were the only ones that noticed her running up, but suddenly a large steel wall was coming out from the ground of the doorway. Ace was only able to share a look from Daryl before the steel door shut completely.

Ace let out a yell, lunging towards the door, banging on it, the same as they started to do. He locked them in?!

She pounded on the door, searching around for a handle or a button, anything to get it open, but nothing. So she kept pounding, yelling at the group on the other side who was trying to yell to her. When nothing seemed to be working she took a step back from the door, running a shaky hand through her hair and over her face, not knowing what to do.

_1...2...3..._

She counted in her head, getting her fear under control, letting herself feel it for those 3 seconds only, then adapting to it, becoming one with the situation.

Once calmed down enough she stopped and breathed.

Think.

At first Ace thought to shoot the door, maybe find a weapon around here to hit at it with, but after going back up to it and feeling the cold hard steel of it, she knew that it wouldn't happen.

Ace put her ear up to the door next. It was hard, but she could hear all the yells of fear and anger going around the group, but then something else. Vi's voice came back, this time informing the whole building about HIT's. Ace listened, hearing sobs come from the other side of the door when the monotone voice stopped.

"Ace! Ya hear me?!" It was Daryl.

"Yeah!" She yelled loudly back, putting her ear back up to the door after, waiting for a response. She heard crying and more yelling in the back, then a few grunts from Daryl before he talked again. "Can ya find a way to open it?!"

Ace shook her head, but then realized he can't see her. "No! It's sealed automatically! Jenner did somethin!" Ace shouted, putting aside her quietness.

She heard Daryl shout out some curse words angrily, but then some more talking being done to Jenner. Maybe they can convince him? He did let her go... Ace agreed in her head that there was nothing else she could do for them here so she took off in a run, this time going all the way up the stairs to where the actual exit to the building is.

"Ace?!" Daryl's gruff voice yelled to the wall. "Ace?!" He called again when she didn't respond.

"She left! She left us!" Carol cried, clinging on to Sophia.

Everyone grew even more angrier than they already were. Ace left them here to get blown up. That's what Daryl was having a hard time processing in his head. It made him angry that she did, even though he was going to suggest to her to get the hell out.

Daryl let out a loud grunt, chucking his bottle of whiskey against the door. "OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!" He yelled, starting to run back to Jenner. He was the only one that could open it, not the axes that Shane and Daryl started hitting against it. Daryl not stopping. He was angry. He wanted to get out. Angry that Ace did and left him.. Left them.

But Jenner wouldn't open it. He didn't listen to the cries of the children, or the pleads of the adults, even the constant threats he was getting. "Wouldn't it be kinder, more compassionate, to just hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?" That was his only words on the thing so far.

People were writhing with fear, becoming frantic with their anger. Especially Shane who started shooting at the monitors, freaking out. Enough for Rick to tackle him down.

Everyone was on edge.

But Rick gave it one more shot. And with 4 minutes 31 seconds left, Jenner opened the doors.

Daryl was in mid swing when the door slid down, shocked. Ace was on the other side of that door, sitting on the ground, arms wrapped around herself. Daryl and her looked at each other for a moment in awe, but then his senses came back in and he grabbed the top of her arm, pulling her up. "C'MON!"

Ace was able to catch one last look from Jenner before she put herself into gear, her and Daryl running as fast as they could, the group following behind. The sound of feet thumping, yells to hurry, and huffs were all that Ace could hear over her beating heart.

They flew up the stairs, and right back out to the room Ace was just in. She had tried so desperately to get out, even shot at the glass windows, only to find it was bulletproof. She knew that she couldn't do anything down by that door, so she thought that maybe she could get a head start for the group, finding a way out, then catch up with them when they got out, but she couldn't. Barely a minute ago she thought she was going to die alone right outside that door..

She heard a cry come from her side to see Sophia standing there alone, Carol running up to go over to Rick. Ace quickly moved, letting the little girl cling onto her side and cry while the guys attempted to get past those bastard bullet proof windows. But chairs and axes and guns wouldn't work, making them fail just like Ace had.

But Ace's eyes widened when Carol held out a grenade in her hand to Rick.

"Look out!" Shane yelled and Ace making a swift movement to push Sophia back, throwing her body over the little girls like a shield. Ace made sure Sophia was covering her ears and safely guarded before putting her own head down.

A loud bang rang out, but thankfully the sound of glass shattering did too. Ace's ears were ringing, but she didn't slow one bit when pushing Sophia up, letting her run to her mom, Ace following behind. The sunlight was blinding, making her aim to shoot the biters that came over difficult. But soon enough they had ran to the cars, everyone jumping into a random one, Ace not noticing she grabbed the handle to the door of Daryl's truck until he was behind her, yelling. "Get inside! Hurry!" He ran to the drivers side, both of them diving in, slamming the doors shut after.

They looked at each other with heavy breaths and frantic eyes once sitting in the leather seats, still having remaining seconds until the explosion. Once Dale and Andrea apparently came out of the building and Rick's horn honked, Daryl shoved Ace down. "Duck!" He yelled, both of them diving down, his body coming down second, shielding hers.

An earth shaking, ear piercing explosion rang out, winds of heat being shot over the vehicles, making instant beads of sweat roll down Ace's skin. It was so much like the explosion she experience in Germany that it chilled her bones.

After the noise settled down, Ace and Daryl sat up, meeting each others eyes before looking to the building that once was the CDC.

**So ace talked more!**

**Jenner gave her medicine and files? What's up with thaaaat? **

**Sorry it takes me so long to update! I love all you guys! let me know what you think!**


	9. Chapter 9

"Stupid bitch," Daryl grumbled Ace's favorite words.

"Fucker," Ace breathed under her breath, crossing her arms and shifting so she could have a better look out of the window of his truck.

"Whatever," Daryl huffed. "Ya the one that can go get fucked."

Ace scoffed at him, rolling her eyes. "Whatever," she repeated what he said, watching as he pulled his truck to a halt behind the caravan. "Ya can go get yer' own damn ride," Daryl snapped at her, swinging open his door.

Ace didn't say anything back, but did the same thing, both of them angrily hopping out of the truck and slamming the doors.

They were having a fine car ride after watching the CDC get blown to pieces, both feeling a little raw with emotion. They actually sat in comfortable silence, Daryl even tried mumbling a few things to her, asking random questions. But he started to get ticked off when he couldn't figure her out, or when she would just stay quiet like normal again. Ace doesn't even remember exactly what got either of them so pissed or what they were fighting about. Daryl just sets something off in her, making her want to punch something.

He's only ever nice to her when he's drunk. Or when they were/just had been in a life threatening situation, apparently.

Ace shook her head, going over to the rest of the group that had pulled over. Once far enough out of the city for comfort, they decided to stop, see if they could find any supplies, get rid of some of the unnecessary cars that took up a lot of fuel.

So Ace went over to Shane, her back up ride, him noticing her coming over and silently handing her a long tube to use to siphon some fuel with a nod. She took it from him while he grabbed the red container for gas, them both going over to T-Dog's old van for some fuel, each already knowing what to do. Ace slid the tube down into the gas compartment after opening up the latch, giving a deep blow on the top before quickly leading the tube to the container, watching the gas bubble out into it. "Dixon kick you out?" Shane asked as the container filled up, having an empty one in his other hand as well.

Ace looked behind herself to see Daryl pulling the motorcycle that was in the bed of his truck out, most likely ditching the beat down old truck. She gnawed on the inside of her lip, turning back to Shane and shrugging. It was a mutual agreement to not be near each other. Daryl Dixon was an asshole anyways. He set a fire off inside of Ace that she was pretty sure was a strong disliking.

Shane chuckled to himself and at Ace, but she ignored him, grabbing the now full container of gas and going back to Shane's car. She filled it most of the way up, but still saved some gas in the other container to keep in the trunk for another time. While doing this Shane had siphoned the fuel from Daryl's truck, handing it over to Rick for him to put in his trunk.

Ace did happen to notice Shane staring at Rick and Lori for too long after, making her feel kinda bad for him. She could tell he loved Rick's family. "Saddle up," Shane hit the top of his car, by where Ace was leaning by, getting her attention from her thoughts back. She jumped up, throwing her backpack in first before she hopped in, the Jeep being a little farther up off the ground then most cars. Either way, she did like this Jeep. Especially now with the top off, giving her a cool breeze when they drove.

And as they drove Ace was thinking over all the things that Jenner said to her, mostly about Frankie. The group was headed to Fort Benning now, finally, and she so badly wanted to prove Jenner wrong. And herself wrong too. Jenner had planted an even bigger seed of doubt in her head, up to the point were Ace felt like there was no hope. Even if she did find Frankie, would Jenner be right? It will just be another goodbye? She'll find Frankie to tell her she's dying of cancer again..?

Ace sunk down in her seat, feeling emptier than usual.

*

"I don't know why I'm tellin you this," Shane ran a hand fast over his head, one hand on the stering wheel as he drove. It had been a little while of just the two of them sitting in the car, Shane talking enough for the both of them. He was hesitant at first, but eventually started talking about a lot of the stuff he was keeping bottled up inside. Ace was happy to listen, Shane seeming like the type of guy that tried to keep everything in, but doing that only leads him to go crazy.

He didn't give Ace much detail, it really not being her business, but he told her about Lori and Carl, how he loved them. How he loved Rick too, he was his best friend, but he didn't think Rick was fit for the responsibilities he had. That Rick wasn't going to make the tough calls, or that he was not suited for this world. Shane talked about when Rick had gotten shot and he had to take care of Lori and Carl. He told her about how he thought Rick was dead, Lori too. He seemed really distressed about a lot of things.

Ace listened to him very intently, finally putting some of the pieces together now that she has the story. She agreed with him on somethings that he said, but others not so much. Either way she didn't say anything, just let him get his anger out a little bit. Ace was glad she could help, she would have never thought that when she first met Shane they would become acquaintances, maybe even friends?

At least one person wasn't ignoring and being rude to her.

"Me and Rick.. We were takin our sweep around camp the other day," Shane started again, gripping at the steering wheel. "After seein him come back from the dead, I thought... I thought he should stay dead... I took my weapon and I pointed it at my best friend."

Ace's head turned to look at him, a little bit shocked. "For a moment.. It was only for a second, but I thought everythin would be better if he had never came back." Shane took his eyes off the road for a few seconds at a time, giving Ace some glances to see what her response was. She had just leaned back in her seat, watching the road in front of them, really thinking about what he said. Shane was once a good man, but love was and will be his demise.

"You think we'll find somethin at Fort Benning?" Shane changed the subject after quiet a few moments of silence. Ace nodded. She didn't _know_, but she had a strong belief that they would. "Had a buddy that worked up there, said they were going crazy protecting that place... packing all the heat there," she mumbled, not taking her eyes off the road as she did. Ace was still new to speaking the things that were on her mind, one of the adjustments she had a harder time making once in a group. As much as she didn't mind the company, Ace just felt she would be able to breathe and relax better if she had a good amount of time to herself, with out the fear of being interrupted.

Shane smacked his hand against the wheel, "I knew we shoulda just skipped the CDC, that crazy doctor didn't do none of us any good.. We've got it goin now, though," he smirked, glad to know that they might actually have a chance somewhere and that someone finally backed his opinions up. Except for skipping the CDC part, Ace didn't fully back that opinion of his. Sure it was a hell of a scary adventure, but if not for going there she wouldn't have gotten those meds and information to help her survive a little bit longer. But if they had skipped that, she wouldn't have had that battle with the alcohol, or those harsh words Jenner said to her about no hope that really put her down in the dumps... The trip really wasn't all good or all bad.

There was more silence that lingered for a while after that, until the caravan pulled up onto a highway, cars and old traffic jams scattered everywhere. Ace and Shane both immediately sat up, eyes pealed as the caravan slowed to a halt for a moment, not sure if they could fit the caravan past the oncoming panic of cars. Especially the 13 wheeler that had flipped over on the middle of the road.

They sat waiting for a second, until the loud rumble of Daryl's motorcycle got closer, him telling everyone that he saw a way through.

The sight was absolutely horrible as they drove on, cars flipped and rammed into each other, corpses lying all around.. The eeriness had chilled Ace's bones since the first moment they turned here. She didn't like this one bit, hating the sight that was all around her. She wished they could just go find another road or that if she blinked, all the cars and horror would disappear.

Ace also was starting to dislike more and more the Jeep, not feeling very shielded or protected in basically this topless car.

And then possibly the last noise on earth Ace wanted to hear right now was sharp in her ears. Something short wiring and breaking down the RV, stopping the caravan. Shane swore under his breath as he put his Jeep in park, both of them immediately hopping out after grabbing their guns.

"Problem Dale?" Shane asked as they came over to the RV, smoke rapidly coming out from the front of it.

"Oh just the small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with the small hope o-.. Okay, that was dumb," Dale went on before stopping himself, seeing that they were surrounded by cars full of parts to fix the RV with. As much as Ace really didn't want to stick around here, digging through dead peoples stuff, she sucked it up anyways.

It was decided, with only little protest from Lori, that they would look around, siphon more fuel, and collect any supplies they needed... Water, food.. As much as Lori was right when she said this was a grave yard, it is also a gold mine.

Ace caught Daryl's eye, him seeming to watch over her and what she was doing until their eyes met. They both gave each other a scowl before turning away in the opposite direction. Ace made sure she had her knife in her holster on her hip and gun still in her hand before went off as the group dispersed.

Ace stayed near the RV mostly, wanting to be able to hear someone say it was all fixed up and they could go when it was time. She took her time digging through a few cars, spirit being uplifted every time she found a suitcase full of canned food or bottles of water. And then she remembered something. The medicine list..

She quickly snuck back to the Jeep, grabbing her backpack and shuffling through it until she got to the list Jenner had wrote out for her. Some of the names on here were familiar from her last cancer treatment, but others she really could barely even pronounce.

Going back to the cars she looked for the same stuff, but this time took a little extra moment to look through the pills or random drugs they had inside. She mostly found aspirin, ibuprofen, allergy medication, and some cleansing ointment. She took it all anyways, just in case anyone needed it some time.

After a few more cars she searched through, grabbing a plastic bag she found inside of one to carry all the things she found, she was just wandering around cautiously. "Miss Ace?" A small voice came from behind her, making her turn around. At first all she spotted was Glenn working on the RV and Shane wandering around somewhere, but then looking down a little she saw cute and innocent Sophia.

Ace smiled and crouched down to her level, noticing the dirty old doll she was clinging onto. "I drew this for you," Sophia held out her hand that was holding onto a piece of paper. Ace was surprised that Sophia did this for her, but she couldn't wipe the smile off her face when she took the paper and looked down at it. It was a picture of three people all colored in crayon in a circle. "It's you.. me.. and Carl," she pointed to each figure, Carl being colored in blue, Ace green, and Sophia Pink. "We're playin cards," Sophia said shyly. "And on the other side," Sophia turned the paper over for Ace. "It's jus' me and you.. It's when I beat you at Go Fish," Sophia giggled, making Ace's face light up. "Look I even made your eyes pretty, too," She pointed to Ace's face, having two different colored eyes like now.

"This is amazing, Sophia," Ace said lightly, looking up from the picture. "Thank you, I love it."

Sophia giggled before turning around and running back to Carl who was sitting in the trunk of a car next to Carol and Lori who were going through it.

Ace was feeling a lot better now, smiling as she folded up the picture and put it into her back pocket to keep. She wasn't exactly sure what to do with her smiling face now, but as she looked around, catching something in the corner of her eye, she grew curious. A big truck was stuck off the road a bit, but on it in big bold letters read; 'Pure Life Spring Water. Home and Office Delivery'

Ace walked over to it, sliding her gun into the waist band of her pants before going to the side of the truck and grabbing onto the side door, shoving it upwards. Ace's jaw dropped at the sight in front of her, bottles and bottles of clean, fresh water. Shane was wandering behind her, but stopped to see what the noise she was making was, his jaw dropping too as he ran over. He ran up beside Ace with a cheery laugh, grabbing onto one of the lids and pulling it off, dumping water all over them both. Glenn took notice too and soon, he was laughing out in joy as well.

"It's like being baptized, man," Shane said to Glenn before he moved to the side after soaking himself with the water letting Ace get a drink, smiling bigger. She knew that Shane just wasted a tub of it, but it seemed like they have enough to spare now.

Ace wiped off her face, not nearly as drenched as Shane was, but then decided she would go tell the others. Shane gave her a nod, signaling over to the group and she grabbed the bag of supplies she gathered earlier and started walking over, stopping to look through a few other interesting things on the way. Even though she didn't find any medicine, she was pretty happy with her findings today.

Maybe this place wasn't as bad as it looked?

Ace was getting caught up in her thoughts again, finding a small amount of alone time to peacefully do so. She was leaning into the drivers side of the car, digging through compartments for some medicine when she noticed it went nearly dead quiet again. She shook it off until she heard someones footsteps walking up next to her, but before she could turn around a rough hand was put on her arm and shoulders, shoving her towards the ground. "Under," Daryl's gruff voice growled into her ear seriously enough for her to listen, shuffling under the car, him following suit.

She was confused, but she looked up to see many dirty rotten feet near by, shuffling towards them, making her body go rigid. Ace also happened to catch the sigh of T-dog slicing his arm open on a loose part of one of the cars. Daryl must have seen this too because when Ace went to get up from under the car to run over and help him, Daryl held her back. He put his hand out for her to stay, motioning one finger up to his lips for her to stay quiet also before he rolled out and up, sneaking over.

Ace was breathing hard, getting ready to go follow him and help, against his word, but when she peaked her head out from under the car, the biters had all gotten too close. When a frantic huff she curled back under, trying to tense her body to keep it from shaking so much and also to be ready for any oncoming attack. She even started to feel a little trapped after a while, hating how she was helpless under this car. She guesses it's better than being out in the open for the biters lunches. Ace knew she had Daryl to thank for helping her out twice.

Fuck Daryl's out there..

Ace tilted her head to see if she could see what was going on with him, but she couldn't spot him or T-dog anymore. Nervously swallowing, she quietly reached down and pulled out her knife, feeling better with it tight in her grip as she laid there, body stiff as a statue, waiting for the biters to finish their stroll. She should have knocked on wood or something because she second guessed this place too soon..

Ace started counting to 3 again in her head, each time the shakes slowly stopping and her putting her head back on straight. It seemed like she was counting more than usual lately.

But after a while of laying under the car, watching the feet drag by her head, the biters stopped coming. Ace decided to give them another minute before coming out, but she was settling down a little now.

Until she heard a scream.

Not just any scream, a little girl one that Ace immediately recognized as Sophia's whimpers. Ace's head started panicking again, looking out from under the car to see Sophia shuffle down the hill leading into the woods, two biters after her. Ace didn't even allow herself to think before she rolled out from under the car, getting up and running after Sophia, barely noticing Rick do the same.

It was hard to run down the steep slope of twigs and branches and dirt, Rick accidentally falling down, but Ace using more strength in her legs to run down it. She had mastered a lot of terrain in her days as a soldier. But the difference is the enemy she is running after now are biters, and she can't even use her gun unless she wants to draw back the attention of that horde.

Rick was now only a little bit behind Ace, but she didn't slow down, her breaths just becoming more frantic. She could see the back of the two biters and hear Sophia's whimpers, which was enough motivation for her. "Distract the walkers, I'll get Sophia!" Rick yelled over to her, coming up farther on her right side. She saw that he had a clear path to getting Sophia while she was closer to the biters. Ace wouldn't have minded it being the other way around, but she didn't question him. She'd do what it takes to make sure Sophia stays safe. "Hey!" Ace yelled, going around to the other side of the biters, farther away from Sophia and Rick's direction. "Over here you smell bastards!" Ace yelled, running backwards as fast as she could, even managing to pick up a rock and throw it at them. Once the biters were fully turned in her direction, moaning loud at their new food source, Ace cursed under her breath and spun around, nearly falling to the ground before she took off in a run.

She turned back every so often, making sure they were still on her, which of course, they were. And she was getting winded after a while, not them. She had no idea how far she had run, but she still was unsure how she is supposed to take on these two biters on her ass. Especially without a gun.

Ace decided she needed to get a distance ahead, so she took the last remaining amount of fuel she had in her body and sprinted, huffing as she pushed past many trees blurring by her. She checked one more time behind her, barely seeing the biters, so she quickly went to the nearest tree and pressed her back to it. Ace could feel her heart thumping fast in her throat, breaths large and heavy in her chest. Sophia had to be okay, right? What if she wasn't okay? What if these biters are too much?

"...1...2...3.." Ace this time counted aloud, trying to take a few deep breaths as she did. No more worrying. She cant be scared right now. She has to do this for Sophia.

Getting into the zone, Ace got her knife ready that was still in her hand, but also bent down grabbing a large rock. She propped the heavy stone up in one hand, waiting for the biters to come over, their moans becoming louder with each step they took closer.

Ace peaked back at them and decided they were close enough for whatever stupid plan she had cooked up in seconds. She took the rock and chucked it far to her left side, making the biters hear it and turn their direction over there, their backs now to Ace.

Ace let one more quiet breath out before pushing herself off from the back of the tree. She made her footsteps quiet, almost light as a feather, like she would as a soldier sneaking behind the enemy. And when she got close enough, Sophia was the only thing on her mind as she jumped up behind the first biter, shoving her knife into the back of it's head quickly, then backing up to the tree she was just at in a hurry. The other biter's attention had been drawn back to her now.

Ace readjusted her grip on her knife, keeping it out to the side as in the corner of her eye, the biter appeared next to the tree. In one swift movement, Ace couched down far enough that her butt was touching one of her ankles, but the other one was extended out on her leg that was swiping under the biters feet, causing it to fall forwards. It was a very majestic movement, but Ace didn't hesitate to after jump on the walkers back, sending her knife down with a huff into the back of it's skull.

Thinking of Sophia, she did it again.

And again.

But then the sound and sight of what she just did became too much and she crawled backwards off of it, her back on the tree again. The blood that had splattered all over her face and neck were itching like they had been drops of acid on her..She hated killing biters, especially like that. She really only had killed a few before up close. During the time she served as a Marine she had shot at people, wounded the enemies, but never really brutally killed or hurt someone. Besides her two buddies in Germany..  
It's nearly a daily thing now, in this world. Ace knows that they aren't people anymore, but she could rarely ever get the thought out of her head that then once were and how inhumane it is to smash someones skull in.

Ace was now letting out whimpers and frantic pants of her own, not crying because her breath was too hard to catch for that, but still freaking out. She didn't know what to do with her hands, whether it was putting them over her face, gripping onto her hair, or punching the ground below her.

She had to keep reminding herself she did it for Sophia.

..Sophia... Ace shot back up from the tree, looking at the two biters once more before she pushed off from the ground and took off in a sprint again. She had to get back to the highway to make sure she was safe. Rick had to have gotten her back, right? No worries.

Ace hadn't realized how much she ran out here to get away from the biters until now, it seeming like forever until she saw the clearing off the woods. She was so relieved when she did, shoving a branch out of her way so she could get to that same hill she ran down. Ace was a little off to the side, but she still made her way over there in record time.

She saw that Rick was back, so Sophia should be back here too. Thank God.

Ace nearly climbed up the last part of that hill and over the railing, still panting like crazy. She walked over to the group that was now all standing by the railing, looking for Sophia, but not seeing her. Only Carol sobbing as she looked to see Ace. "How could you?!" Carol cried out at her, standing up when Ace came over.

"...Sophia," Ace mumbled, still not being able to find her and seeing Carol was just another sign she wasn't here.

"You let my daughter get left out in the woods!" Carol screamed at Ace, going to step forward, but Lori came up and grabbed her, also putting a hand over her mouth to stay quiet. Ace couldn't say anything, just guiltily avoided eye contact with everyone.

"Carol, it's not her fault... We-We'll go back out there.. Right now, we'll find her," Rick came over, trying to get her to look at him.

Rick then looked at Daryl and Shane, Daryl being the tracker and hunter of the group. Glenn also offered to come along and then everyone ran to get their weapons. "Here," Daryl grumbled as he came up to Ace, holding out his red rag he kept in his back pocket. Ace looked up at him for a moment, she hesitated, but gave in, her hands shaking when she reached up to grab it from him. She brought the rag up and did her best to get the sticky and gooey biter blood off her face and neck. It didn't do much, she could still feel it drying on her skin and in her hair, but it helped a little.

Ace barely looked at Daryl as she handed it back, him taking it and stuffing it back in his butt pocket. "C'mon," he nodded his head in the direction of the woods, watching Ace carefully as she stepped back over the railing, going back into the forest to find the lost little girl.

Lost just like Frankie.

**[A/N]: So if you guys haven't noticed, I don't plan on making this like a fast 'oh i love you, lets have sex' relationship between her and Daryl. I want to create something much more sturdy and realistic for the both of them to hold on to. Neither really are the type of people that have the social stability or emotional stability to just have sex and be like one of those relationships.  
Don't worry about it being boring or anything, I'll do my best to keep a lot of Daryl moments with her here and what not!**

**And like I said before, I wanted to give certain people a chance, like Shane. He was made out to be the enemy in my other story and in the TV show, too, but I want to try a bonding with him.**

**Anyway, let me know what you think! Ace and Daryl's relationship right now is an odd one, but they certainly do bring out something in the other!3 I love you guyss! thanks for the reviews!**


	10. Chapter 10

"You sure this is the spot?" Daryl asked, crouching down to look under the bank Rick had said he left Sophia at. Ace was still trying to grasp all of this in her head.

"I told her to stay right here," Rick pointed, the water splashing under his feet as he did. "Ace went after the two walkers from the highway while I went to get Sophia.. More came and I had to take the walkers in that direction, up the creek," Rick was pointing as he talked. This really was not Ace's fault at all, but that's not what she thought. Some how, some way, there was more Ace could have done, and she failed. "She was gone by the time I got back here, I figured she took off and ran back to the group.. I told her; go that way and keep the sun on her left shoulder," Rick pointed to where Ace and Shane were standing, Daryl following his fingers.

They were up on top of the creek bed so it was a giant step up for Daryl to get up there, Ace holding her hand out to help. Daryl just looked at it for a moment, but huffed as he took it, allowing her to help him up. Ace was going to do the same thing for Rick, but Shane beat her to it. "Assuming she knows her left from her right.." Shane said down to him.

"Shane, she understood me fine," Rick stated, breathing hard.

Shane was saying something back, but Ace ignored it. All it was is pessimistic stuff that she didn't want to hear right now. Instead, she followed behind Daryl quietly, watching as he searched the ground for tracks. "Got clear prints right here.. She did what you said, headed back to the highway," Daryl stated, turning around to tell them, surprised to see Ace standing behind him. He hadn't heard her footsteps at all.. "Let's spread out," Daryl tried to ignore it and made a signal with his hand, starting to lead the small group again.

Ace wasn't as good of a tracker as Daryl, but she still had a lot of skills and experience as a veteran. She applied them as best as she could while following being Daryl. He was crouched down, studying the ground like it was the most intricate piece of art that held clues to the mystery they were trying to solve. Ace realized he was real good at tracking, his footsteps light and his skills heavy.

It was discovered that Sophia had been doing just fine, her trails heading right back up to the highway until one spot where she randomly just veered off to the right. Ace didn't know why she'd do that, no other tracks were found, which meant no one spooked her. But Ace did know she was a child, running around scared, so it's hard to expect she knew exactly where or what she was doing.

"It'll be best if you, Ace, and Glenn head back up to the highway before people start panicking," Rick started to Shane, but Ace was not happy with hearing her name. There is no way she's gona stop searching for Sophia.

"Na," Daryl stood up, cutting Rick off for a moment. "She stays. Got the quietest footsteps," Daryl gave that as a reason which was true, she did, and he also suspected she had some kind of skill that could be helpful. But also, he could tell she was beating herself up about Sophia.. He knew she had to be here to look for her. Daryl knows she is just that kind of person.. And if she can't look for her sister, this was the best she's got.

Ace met eyes with Daryl and gave him a thankful nod which he returned quickly. "Okay," Rick agreed. "Let them know we're on her trail, but most importantly, keep everybody calm."

Shane and Glenn agreed, saying they would dig up some chores to keep people busy, then they left, heading back in the direction that Sophia should have gone, leaving Rick, Daryl, and Ace there. "You know how to track?" Daryl barely looked much at Ace as he asked her, walking forward again. Normally he didn't like to, but he could double task while tracking and still do a damn good job.

"Sort of," Ace mumbled, following after him with Rick. Ace didn't dare crouch down like Daryl right now, she only would if it's completely necessary because that will be a bitch on her already aching back. "You know what you're lookin' for?" Daryl asked.

"Sort of," Ace repeated.

"You don't talk much, do you?" Rick snorted a laugh behind her, but Ace barely gave him a look back. She was waiting for the comment that came after that, the more rude one that normally always follows, but instead she got something different.

"Ain't so bad, 'least she ain't blabbin her mouth like most of them idiots," Daryl said, keeping his eyes on the ground he was following.

Rick stayed quiet and a ghost of a smirk came over Ace's face.

They walked on for a little bit more, searching for any signs or dusts up that would give them more of Sophia's path. They were all silent, both Ace and Daryl thankful for that. Rick had tried to ask them how they were seeing anything to follow, but Daryl shushed him up saying he wasn't giving a lesson in tracking, even though he had just been talking to Ace about it.

All was going smoothly until a faint ruffle of branches spooked all three, each immediately crouching way down. Ace bit her tongue when the pain in her lower back started shooting up her spine and silently moved on beside Daryl and Rick. There was a small hill that they were on top of, making them able to see the lone biter shuffling along down below. Ace's heart plummeted at the sight, not because she hated them, but because Sophia could have ran into him..

Daryl signaled motions with his hands towards Ace that she was able to pick up and quickly apprehend. Her job is to quietly run in front of the biter, making sure it's attention was on her so Daryl could take it out. She did this after a nod to Daryl, glad she at least wasn't the one who had to kill it.

Ace let out a sort little bird call type of whistle, causing the biter to turn towards her. It let out a grown that set Ace's body rigid, but before anything else happened, an arrow came through its eye.

Ace took a moment to squeeze her eyes tight at the sight before running back over to the biter, Rick and Daryl doing the same. They all silently stared down at it before looking up and giving each other a look. They know that there is a chance that this came by Sophia.. But only limited ways to find out if it did or not.

Rick took action first, picking under it's finger nails and in between it's teeth, finding flesh. The question was, though; what kind of flesh?

Ace's eyes went wide when Rick ripped open the biters shirt, "there's only one way to know for sure.."

He was going to cut it open? That's not right..

Ace knows it has to be done, but still isn't feeling too good about it.

"Here, I'll do it. How many kills have you skinned and gutted in life? Anyway, mines sharper," Daryl said while taking out his knife, his tone letting Ace know this is nothing like one of his animals he's skinned and gutted..

Ace watched as he lifted his knife up, but wouldn't allow herself to see anymore, looking to the side at Daryl's boot when the disgusting sound of ripping flesh open was loud in her ears. She didn't know if her mind or stomach could handle this, tearing into a person, so she crouched down, ignoring her back pains and focusing hard on Daryl's boot. Ace had no idea how Daryl could do this, but she gave him a ton of credit, even if it was disgusting how he just... dug in.

While sawing down the biters stomach, Daryl took a look back at Ace, having not heard a sound come from her. Well, that is a normal thing, but this time he couldn't even hear the leaves crunch under her feat or the quiet sound of her breathing.

It just turned out that she was barely holding onto her breath, either closing her eyes or staring at his leg as she gripped hard onto the grass below her, keeping herself steady. "Here comes the bad part.." Daryl huffed. Ace looked up when he talked, but only completely regretted it when a moment after she saw him shove his hands inside the biters gut.

Ace's hand went up to cover her mouth as she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to get the image out of her head. Was it really so normal to cut open something that once was a person? Why was she the only one struggling so badly with grasping onto that? And she was the one that was supposed to be good at 'adapting'...

"Yeah, hoss had a big meal not long ago.. I feel it in there," Daryl was now mid arm deep in the things stomach.

Ace kept repeating Sophia's name in her head as the sound of Daryl's grunts and the slime of guts were in her ear. It actually helped a lot. Enough for her to regain the composure she once had in time for Daryl to drop the gut bag out.

Rick took over and started cutting that open, both of them making sounds of disgust as they did. Ace was feeling really unhelpful, which made her feel worse about the Sophia situation, but there was nothing she could do. She didn't have a pair of gloves or the stability to do what they have.

"Gross bastard had himself a woodchuck for lunch," Daryl announced.

With this information they all stood up, Ace walking over to the nearest tree and placing a hand on it, letting her head bow down, focusing on her breathing. "At least we know.." Rick said, trying to keep the positive side of this up.

"Ya alright?" Daryl's voice rang out from behind Ace, causing her to peek an eye open to see him standing behind her. "Throw up if ya gotta'," he said, but Ace just shook her head, standing back up straight. "M'good."

Daryl gave her a nod and then soon enough they were back on their search.

*

An hour or so later, spirits were low like the sun that had started to set. They had followed Sophia's track for a while, right up until it went cold. There wasn't anything left to go off of, it being a bad idea to just be wandering around the woods in the dark.

Ace was tearing herself up. She could barely stand the thought of Sophia being out in the woods, alone during night. She couldn't believe that this was happening. That she let it happen..

Carol's whimpers only put Ace down more when they walked back up to the highway, each of them now covered in a fair amount of dirt and grossness. "You... You didn't find her," Carol cried.

Rick came over and started explaining to her that Sophia's trail was gone, but Ace just stayed back by Daryl. "How could you.." Carol cried out, harshness in her voice that was directed straight towards Ace, taking all the blame out on her. "How could you just leave her? You lost my baby girl in the woods!" Carol spat at her. "You should have never come with this group!"

Ace wouldn't even look up as Carol yelled at her. She was glued to her spot in guilt, looking down at her hands that had dried blood from the two biters she killed earlier on them. "I'm sorry," Ace whispered, barely audible. In fact, only a few people were able to make it out. Daryl was one of them and he watched Ace as she looked like an innocent child that was being bullied on the worse matter possible.

"She's just a child... She's just a child," Carol cried and what she said and the way she said it had Ace's whole body shaking. She started taking steps back, not being able to be here anymore. She really wanted to crawl out of her own skin, but that's not an option.

Daryl watched as she started sinking back and he took a step toward, about to say something to her until she turned and started heading away in the opposite direction.

Ace went far off, passing by many cars until her legs grew much too tired. She was nearly hyperventilating, the guilt compressing her chest as she looked down at her hands. The blood from the biters represented more to her. Because metaphorically she really did have so much blood on her hands.

The blood of her buddies from the Marine's, the blood of all the biters she's killed, she believes Frankie's blood, Merle's blood, and now Sophia's blood... _Her hands were so dirty._

Growing frantic, Ace went down onto her knees and started quickly rubbing at one hand with the other, trying to scrub off all the dried, crusty blood. But it failed, because how is it possible that she could clean her hands to make them pure again? It's like trying to clean with a dirty rag.

She still kept rubbing and rubbing at her hands, so lost in doing so that she didn't notice anyone come up until a hand grasped one of her wrists, stopping her. Ace now looked up, becoming utterly confused why Daryl was here. Or why he was being nice to her today.

He didn't say a word as he pulled out the red rag that was in his butt pocket and a water bottle he now had. Daryl opened the bottle silently and poured some of the water over her hands, Ace watching while the cold liquid dripped around them and then when Daryl started cleaning her hands with his rag.

_She couldn't clean herself up, but Daryl could._

"Carol ain't right for what she's said.. Blamin it on you," Daryl mumbled as he took each of her fingers one by one with the rag, rubbing them clean. Ace was completely aware of him and what he was saying, but as usual, didn't respond, just looked at the cement below her.

Once Daryl had finished with her hands, he stuffed the rag back in his pocket, but still stayed crouched down next to Ace, eyeing her a little bit. After a little bit of silence, Daryl spoke up. "Sorry 'bout bein a dick," his voice was a low, quiet mumble. He was all kinds of shy and not used to his feelings or talking to someone like this in general. Ace knew exactly what that felt like and watched as as soon as he said that, he got up and started heading back.

Ace looked back down on the ground, letting her head spin. This group is a mess, they've really done nothing good for her at this point, but she's not leaving now. Not with Sophia out there. She had to admit to herself what Jenner said was right... Frankie is probably dead. If not, she could be anywhere, nearly impossible to find. And Ace had her cancer.

Sophia's the one she's got to find now that she can't find Frankie.

And Daryl gets that.. He gets her and she gets him. Ace knew that from the first time he offered her a drink, but both not knowing how to handle that, they were assholes to each other. But at the same time they would look out for the other. She didn't know this Daryl Dixon very much, but she knew who he was. And he knew who she was. They're so similar, drawing together because of it.

Ace pushed herself up off the ground and with a few reassuring thoughts, she started to head back to the RV. She didn't say a word or give a glance to anyone, just went straight to Shane's Jeep where her backpack was. Shane was already in here, laying back in his seat with his hat over his face. Ace was being as quiet as she could, luckily being able to snatch her bag with out waking him if he was even asleep.

"Got that bench open inside if you're still in need of a place to sleep," Dale said to Ace when she got back over to the RV.

"Sure," she gave a weak smile. "I'll take watch?"

Dale nodded and handed her his rifle, suspecting that it would be best if she had some alone time. Ace was glad he got that and put her backpack on her shoulders before climbing up to the top of the RV. There was a lawn chair set up at the edge, so Ace made her way over there, sliding her pack off before she sat.

She looked at the sky that was a fiery orange not too long ago start to twinkle with darker colors. Ace let herself get lost in the sight for a while, her thoughts running around in a million different directions. Left, right, up, down, wherever... at the end of each road was nothing good, just pain and loss and guilt.

Letting out a sigh, she moved to reach down to her backpack, digging through it to find all the pill bottles Jenner gave her and the file. She didn't feel like going in depth with the file right now, her head already worn out, but she had spotted a paper inside with info on the medicines earlier. So, taking it out she saw that it was basically the same list of all the drugs, but a small description on what they do next to them, plus, their side effects.

Ace got all the bottles set on the ground in front of her. She looked at each one and compared them with the file. It said to take them once a day, some even twice. But those ones had a red lable on them, saying that there are strong side effects. Most of the other ones just made a person either really tired or thirsty, sometimes hungry, but these ones were the bastard ones Ace remembers from before. They make you get constantly sick when you try to eat anything, not able to keep it down. They give you killer headaches, bone deep pain, and other stuff that Ace can't deal with right now.

She put those ones aside, she can't take those now. Not when she needs to focus on finding Sophia and surviving. Maybe one day if she ever finds a place to settle down..

After opening each of the other bottles and taking some from each, swallowing dry, Ace angrily stuffed everything back in her bag. How the hell was she supposed to do this? Survive the zombie apocalypse and cancer?! Even with the pills, she'll be messed up from having to worry about taking them every day and the side effects.. and what happens when she runs out? She can't just avoid the fact that she needs chemo or a risky surgery.. Her survival just isn't supposed to happen!

Rubbing her temples, she put her bag down below her, her head feeling like it might explode from everything. She was stressed out to the max on top of all the guilt and pain and hopelessness, too. Ace knows she's bound to have a panic attack sometime.

She's never been a person to completely give up and lose even with all the close calls she's had. But Ace feels that after she finds Sophia, it will just be a matter of time before she needs to have a bullet for her last meal..

**[A/N]: Not so sure how I feel about this chapter, but yeah just gotta move on! I'm excited to get to the farm and all that stuff!**

**i'M trying my best not to like make this boring and quote the whole show and drag it out because we've all seen it (or at least I assume so)!**

**How is Ace going to conquer her cancer? Can she? And what about the Sophia thing that is weighing on her mind?**

**Let me know what you guys think!3**


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